


Flawed Design

by GoldenDaydreams



Series: Flawed Design [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood & Jace Wayland Friendship, Alliance Rune (Shadowhunter Chronicles), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Allies To Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, M/M, Parabatai Bond, Pillow & Blanket Forts, Platonic Soulmates, Protective Siblings, Racism within Shadowworld, Romantic Soulmates, Sibling Bonding, Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates- First Words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-02-13 12:38:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 81,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12984243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenDaydreams/pseuds/GoldenDaydreams
Summary: Alexander hates the entire concept of soulmate marks. From a young age, he’s seen the flaw in their design. His father is his mother’s soulmate, but she is not his, Isabelle's words are most certainly written by mundane, and the words on Jace's collarbone are not the first words Alec said to him.And when Alec's own mark comes in, he hates it all the more.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am WEAK for soulmate AU's. The fact that it's taken me this long to write one is crazy.  
> Also, I lied a little when I was all like 'I'm not posting till it's finished,' again, I am weak. It is, however, almost finished, sooooooo... here you go.

**_Love makes all hearts gentle -_ Romanian Proverb**

 

The soft grey chaise lounge was perfect for reading. Light filtered in through the cathedral’s stained glass windows. Her small, precocious boy toddled away from where he’d been quietly building with blocks. She smiled over at him, looking at his little village. Her Alec never built something up only to knock it over like other children seemed to take joy in doing. He built, and then he put his blocks away in the bin again, carefully, almost as if he were sorry to take it all apart.

His large blue eyes stared at her a moment before his little smile showed. Without a word, he climbed up onto the chaise, sitting by her hip. He took her hand from the book she’d been reading and set it over his lap. She gave up on reading, and set the tome aside. His index finger touched the tip of her Angelic Power Rune, and he traced it with reverence.

“Angels,” he murmured when his finger touched the end. His finger then touched his own skin, as he pretended to draw the Angelic Rune on himself. This had become his new favourite thing to do as of late.

When he finished moved onto the Clairvoyance Rune on her hand, once again, with great care he traced the sweeping lines of the rune. “Voic-e-ance,” he said, as he finished the swirl in the center, then turned his finger to the back of his own hand.

“Clairvoyance,” Maryse corrected, running her free hand through his hair.

He turned his eyes to her. “That’s what I said, Mama,” he replied seriously.

She smiled, oh, her little boy made her heart nearly burst with a joy she didn’t even know she could feel. She tried to smooth his hair down once again. No matter what she did, it never seemed to stay put. The second her hand moved from his head, bits of his hair curled and flicked back up like a disarrayed little birds nest.

His attention shifted back up her arm and he shifted in his seat to reach. His light touch reminded her of his gentle nature, one she could not continue to protect. Soon, her little boy would start combat training. From there, he would have to learn all about the demons, and the Downworlders, and turmoil of the Shadow World. For now, she’d keep him safe. He didn’t need to know yet, he didn’t need to see the ugliness of the world, the cruelty of the shadows. No, for now, she could still protect him from all that.

“Deflect,” he said. While she wore hers on her arm, he started tracing it on his neck. Vaguely, she wondered why when every other time he’d mirrored the runes onto his own body. He stopped halfway through, looking puzzled as he stared at her Deflect Rune. His hand fell away from his own skin, and he took her bicep in both hands gently turning. “Mama, you have an ouch.”

The word ‘bruise’ caused him great frustration, as he pronounced it ‘br-uss,’ and no matter how many times she corrected him, he couldn’t seem to say it. Instead, he turned to calling them ‘an ouch.’ She turned her arm to see what he did. She had missed her sparring in the morning thanks to a few phone calls with Clave officials. Any longer than that, and even without and Iratze, her Angel blood would have taken care of a bruise that small.

That left only one conclusion.

“It isn’t a bruise,” she said softly, figuring now was as good of a time as any to educate her son on the matter. “It’s a Soulmark.”

He blinked a little owlishly, then smiled, wiggling around until he laid back on the chaise with her, his little body warm as he sat pressed against her. He looked up at her expectantly, and she almost laughed. The boy had always been a sponge for knowledge, he enjoyed learning, and listening to stories. One of his favourite things to do was curl up on this very chaise with her while she read, ‘Tales for Tiny Shadowhunters,’ one of the few Shadowhunter written Children’s books.

His patience ended. “Mama, what’s a Soulmark? Is it a special Rune?”

“No, they’re not Runes. Mundanes don’t receive them, they’re unique to those who walk the Shadow World.”

“What about Werewolves and Vampires?” Alec asked. “They used to be mundane.”

She smiled at the question. Most three year olds wouldn’t have thought to ask. “Yes, they get them too.”

“Why don’t I have any?” Alec asked, looking over his skin. He pouted, likely in disappointment that he couldn’t find a single mark on his own arms.

“You’re too little yet,” Maryse replied, although that wasn’t entirely true. Some children did have Soulmarks, but it tended to be those who had huge life moments when they were still so small- like the death of a parent.  “Soulmarks etch your past, present, and sometimes future on your skin. Some of them are permanent, some are temporary and fade away, some change and grow with time. They don’t just come because you had peanut butter and jelly for lunch.”

He grinned, but it quickly fell away. “I still don’t understand.”

“You are one of my soulmarks,” she said, and then lifted the hem of her shirt a little, there were old runes, scars that were slightly lighter than her natural skin colour. She pointed to the blue gladiolus on her ribcage. He had been the reason she and Robert had gained leniency from the Clave, his life had saved hers, he was the very breath in her lungs. “This was once a tiny little mark, a bud that grew as you did inside of me, and when you were born, it blossomed.”

He looked at the mark in awe, then shook his head. “Why am I a flower?”

“The flower is the mark of a child on a parent. Although, the type of flower often reflects the personality of the child. Gladiolus for instance symbolizes strength and moral integrity.”

He nodded, although she doubted he understood what ‘moral integrity’ meant. “Do you have one for Dad?”

She pulled her knee up to her chest, and pulled her sock down. There on her ankle small, cramped script in bold red; _‘it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Trueblood.’_

Alec, too small to read demanded she recite it for him. He listened, nodded. “And what did you say to him?”

It always hurt a little to think about, that her little, _‘you too,’_ didn’t show up on his skin. Instead, the words, _‘hey, are you alright?’_ marked her husband’s forearm, forever mocking her. He was her soulmate, but she was not his. They loved one another though, if he ever figured out who his soulmate was, he never mentioned it. “My words are not on his arm,” she confessed, wanting him to understand. “The system is flawed. Just because you’re someone’s soulmate doesn’t mean they’re yours. Just because there are words written in their hand on your body doesn’t mean you can’t be in love with someone else. These marks… they complicate things.”

“But you still love Dad, and he loves you too,” his innocent eyes stared up at her, begging. “Right?”

She kissed his temple. “Yes.”

“Okay.” His frame relaxed from the stressed posture it held. “What other ones do you have?”

“My others were temporary,” she lied. She had a few others, like the harsh black swatch that came with regret that had failed to leave her after her time with The Circle, and the ‘x’ in the center of her chest that came when her brother had severed ties with the Clave, and gone to live as a mundane.

He mulled over this information and then went back to the small mark on her arm. “What do you think this one means?”

“I don’t know yet,” she admitted. Small, almost an oval in shape. Her eyes widened when she realized it looked just like the mark on her ribs had before it settled in with a faint green of a fresh bud in the spring time. Could it be possible? Could she be pregnant again?

He kissed the mark. “It’s a good mark. I can tell.”

“Can you?” she smirked, raising a brow.

“Yes, it’s a good mark,” the boy said with a nod. “A very good mark.”

:::

When he was nearly seven, Alec’s first soulmark came in. Maryse had taken him and little Isabelle to the park. Alec had tried to keep his sister in the sandbox, after all, at three she was too little and couldn’t climb up on the jungle gym. This didn’t stop her from trying though, and so she’d start clamoring and he’d push her butt up until she could get a knee on the next stair.

It was slow going, but she was triumphant at the top before sitting down and taking the slide all by herself, giggling all the way. She scooted to the end of the slide, her legs dangling a moment before she pushed herself down then ran around to the stairs again. Alec quickly slid down, less amused by the action, and followed his sister who was already trying to get upon the step, a couple of bigger kids standing behind her.

“Move, kid!” And when the boy went to push his sister off the first step, Alec shoved the kid’s arm away and put himself between them.

“Don’t touch my sister!” Alec said, his hands loose but ready at his sides. The taller boy looked to his friends and they laughed. Izzy had given up momentarily, stunned and watching the older kids. Alec stood firmly between them. “She’s just playing. Leave her alone.”

The boy shoved Alec back a step. Alec recovered quickly, and shot out with a punch to the stomach, without waiting, he brought his knee up to the kid’s face, knocking him on his back. He glared at the other two boys who backed up, one of them staying on his feet while the other crouched down to see the damage. The boy on the ground cried, big ugly tears, blood pouring from his nose. “Mom! Mom!”

A blonde woman rushed over with shock written on her face. “Thomas!” She then glared at Alec. “You little monster, where are your parents?”

As if on cue, Maryse walked around the jungle gym and took in the scene. “What happened here, Alec?”

“Your child broke my Thomas’s nose!” The woman shrieked. “You’re going to be paying the medical expenses!”

Maryse practically ignored the woman, her eyes staring down at her son. “He was gonna hurt Izzy, Mama.” He felt Isabelle’s little hands gripping the fabric of the back of his shirt.

While Maryse had little choice but to pay for the mundane boy’s injuries, she didn’t scold Alec. However, she did make a point of telling the woman it wouldn’t have happened if her child was properly behaved.

That night, getting ready for bed, Alec discovered the purpling lines on the wrist of his dominate hand. It was so small, and by morning it had come in strong and black. The top two pieces of a triangle, a circle in the center. He tried to figure it out. It looked a little like the triangle bits were a house, and the little circle was a person.

He rushed off to his mother, who he found in the Institute kitchen whisking eggs. “Mama, look!”

When she glanced down at his wrist she gasped. “Oh my.”

“What is it?” Alec wondered, a little worriedly. “Is it a bad mark?”

“No, no, not at all, Alexander,” she assured. “It’s a good mark, I just didn’t expect you to get one so young.”

“What does it mean?” he asked.

“This is one of the known glyphs, there is a book of them in the library,” she informed him, tracing the lines of his first soulmark with her finger, much like how he did with her runes as a child. “This is the protect glyph.”

“It’s like a little hut,” he said, taking a minute to explain his earlier theory.

“Or.” She turned to stand in front of him, her back to him, her arms bent back. Her body effectively shielding him. He understood the lines of her arms as the triangle, and him being the little circle. She dropped her arms and turned to face him once more.  “You stood between those bullies and your sister. You protected her. And this is a priority for you. So long as it is, you’ll have the mark.”

“I’ll have it forever then,” he promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALRIGHT, WE ALL NEED TO HAVE A CHIT-CHAT. Got your attention? Good. On only my two most recent fics posted have I gotten people making a big deal out of Alec's eye colour. (I HAVE WRITTEN ELEVEN STORIES IN SHADOWHUNTERS AND/OR THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS, IN ALL OF THEM HIS EYES ARE BLUE BUT APPARENTLY THIS MONTH WE'RE GONNA FREAK OUT ABOUT IT.)
> 
> I once had someone bring it up (very politely) to which I replied, sometimes I write for just the Shadowhunter TV verse, while other times I have more of a mix between show plot points/ book bits/ original content- thus to keep it consistent, I always write Alec with blue eyes. Thus not having one chapter having his eyes be blue, and the next chapter making an error and saying their hazel. It's for consistency in my work. (and they were like, 'oh, that makes sense,' and were totally fine with it.) And now, I got some people being polite, but I've had others being downright rude about it, so I figured I need to address it here.
> 
> I literally don't understand why people are getting twisted about this. And no one I've spoken to has a good reason for it- I had one person tell me that if I don't tag it I'm being dishonest. Tags are to find things, to give you an idea of what the story IS ABOUT. The story is not about his eyes. I'm not tagging it. I'm also not tagging this one as The Mortal Instruments because there really aren't any plot points connecting them, while there are bits of show verse lore, that is why it is tagged Shadowhunters TV (although, this one is more original content than anything and so I do what I want). I TAG BASED ON PLOT. LIKE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO.
> 
> So... read it, or don't, but don't bother pointing out that Alec's eyes are hazel in show, and blue in the books. I know. I have spent SO MANY HOURS writing this. I am aware of his eye colour. If you want Alec to have hazel eyes, write your own story, or read someone elses (although, I've seen a fair mix between who writes Alec's eyes as hazel, and those who write blue, so happy hunting.). I do this for entertainment, because I like doing it, I'll write it how I want, and I will tag how I see fit.
> 
> Deal. With. It.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Because brothers don’t let each other wander in the dark alone._ -Jolene Perry**

 

Each day played out quite similarly to the day before for ten year old Alec. He would wake up and join his family for breakfast. He would sit with Hodge in the morning hours being taught three classes, rotating daily. He would have a break for lunch. He and Isabelle would then join either their mother, their father, or Hodge depending on the day for fight training. After a quick shower, he’d be expected for his afternoon studies. There would be dinner after that, and then library time where their parents would work, and Alec and Isabelle had free reign to read what they wished, or do some more studying, anything so long as they kept quiet. In the past year this had become a little less quiet with the addition of Max. After the Library Isabelle and Alec would usually play together in their rooms, coming up with hunting games, and pretending to sword fight, and play hide-and-seek. Their father would usually come in, tell them to get ready for bed, and once teeth were brushed, and they were in their pajamas, they would say goodnight to their family, Alec would kiss baby Max on the forehead, and he’d go to sleep. In the morning, it would start again.

Alec didn’t mind consistency. Isabelle grew bored of it though. She always asked to leave, to go to the park, or for ice cream. Occasional deviations happened, they would get to go grocery shopping, or to the park for an hour if it was a particularly nice day. But those deviations were rare.

In the middle of the day, he changed in his bedroom into his training gear, folding his other clothes and leaving them neatly on the bed. He pulled the training shirt back up and checked the mark again. He’d never had such a big soulmark before, it took up the expanse of the right side of his ribs. For weeks it had been a bruise, slowly taking form and darkening to black. Intricate interlocking gears, bits that couldn’t function without one another, a symbol of parabatai. The words _‘woah, same side,’_ were curved to fit along one of the gears. He waited, and waited, but he hadn’t met his potential parabatai yet.

He made his way through the halls, avoiding the much taller, bigger Shadowhunters. He didn’t want to be in their way, they might be in the middle of an important mission. He hurried into the training room, not wanting to be late. Instead, he knew something was amiss the moment he walked in. Only Isabelle was there, sitting, waiting on the floor. “Where is everyone?” he asked.

“Maybe they don’t want to fight us because we’re too good now,” Isabelle planted her hands on her hips.

He disregarded the comment, he didn’t want to hurt his sister’s confidence, but he seriously doubted that was the case. “Hodge didn’t say Mom or Dad would be late.”

“Oh!” she jumped up. “We could go play in the gardens!” Isabelle clapped her hands together excitedly.

Alec frowned. “No way!”

“I’m going to play!” Isabelle said, taking one big step back, as if she expected one or both of their parents to step out, and stop her. “Come on, Alec!”

“No! I’m going to practice with my bow. Just because they aren’t here, doesn’t mean we’re not supposed to be training Isabelle!”

“Fine! I’ll train, but I gotta pee first,” she said, running off.

He wasn’t sure if she was coming back, or if she was using the bathroom as an excuse. Alec rolled his eyes and went to retrieve his bow from the wall. Maybe it was Mom’s turn to train them, and maybe she was busy with Max. The baby didn’t care about their well-planned schedule, he cried, and pooped, and ate whenever he wanted.

Alec went around the room, setting up the targets, not really surprised when Isabelle didn’t return. He got into position, pulled an arrow from the quiver strapped to his back, notched it, pulled back, and released, it hit the bullseye. Standing still, he could hit any stationary target at this distance. It was when his dad had him walking while shooting that he messed up. Still, one day he would have to practice walking and hitting moving targets as preparation for hunting demons.

He took his training seriously. He started to walk through his targets, barely hitting the corner of the first, the second ring of the second, his next arrow went wide hitting the wall- and nearly the blonde boy who’d walked in. He held up his hands. “Woah, same side!”

Alec’s jaw dropped in horror. “My bad!”

The boy relaxed. “It’s okay.”

“I didn’t see you, I was training- I’m sorry!”

The blonde boy smiled. “Guess I should have knocked.” There weren’t any children at the New York Institute outside of those with the surname Lightwood. Perhaps he was the child of a Clave diplomat. “I’m Jonathan.”

“Alec. Alexander, but everyone calls me Alec.”

Jonathan frowned, and pointed to the bow. “You’re hesitating on the release.”

Alec huffed out a breath. “I get enough crap from my parents. I don’t need it from you.”

“Sorry.” Jonathan glanced at the ground. “I’m not used to… other people.”

Alec was about to ask who his parents were, why he was there when Maryse walked in. “Oh, Jonathan. I’d wondered where you’d wandered off to. I see you’ve met my eldest, Alec.”

Jonathan nodded politely.

“Alec, um… this is Jonathan Wayland. His father was your father’s parabatai.” Maryse bit her bottom lip. “We’re… we’re going to be taking care of him for now on.”

“Wait, what did you say,” Alec said, feeling electric at the mention of parabatai.

“Not used to people?” Jace said.

“No. At first, when you walked in!”

“Alec?” Maryse’s voice was barely heard.

Jace considered it a moment. “Woah, same side?”

Alec pulled up the side of his shirt, displaying the mark on his ribs.

“You said, ‘my bad!’” Jace yanked the hem of his shirt up displaying the same intricate mark, but the words Alec had spoken were woven into the design. “You! It’s you!”

“It seems history repeats itself,” Maryse said, looking happy for the boys. “Robert has taken your things to your room, Jonathan.” Maryse turned to Alec. “He’d in the room across from you. Please show him the way.”

“Yeah, of course,” Alec said nearly tripping in his excitement as he put his weapons away.

::

It was Maryse who first started to call Jonathan ‘Jace,’ a shortened form of his given names Jonathan Christopher. It caught on so quick that sometimes Alec forgot that it wasn’t his actual name. Like when it popped up on forms when they were doing their tests to become full-fledged parabatai. Jonathan was a common Shadowhunter name, but there was only one Jace.

At sixteen, Alec no longer hesitated on the draw. His arrows flew true. Good thing, because Jace had a knack for being reckless, and cocky, getting himself- well, the both of them really, into a world of trouble. He got away with it by being the best fighter of their age.

With every trial, every mission, every moment they got closer to their ceremony, the more nervous Alec got. He spent more and more time in the training room. That was where Isabelle found him the day before he and Jace would give each other the runes, and swear the sacred oath to one another.

“You know,” Isabelle said, slow and conversational, “if you hit that bag any harder, we’ll be ordering a new one.”

Alec paused, one fist against the punching bag. “I’m training. What do you want?”

“Grumpy,” she muttered, crossing her arms. “Jace says you’re avoiding him.”

“So.”

“Are you,” she snapped, looking outraged. “He’s going to be your parabatai. Tomorrow! It’s everything you two have been working for since you met! You two are platonic soulmates-“

“But that doesn’t mean we have to be parabatai!”

Isabelle ran her hands through her hair, an exasperated gesture. “The only reason one would not go through with it is if-“ she stopped talking, and he had to look away. She knew. She knew. _She knew_. “Oh, Alec.”

“I love him,” he whispered.

“Not like that. You might think you do, but you don’t,” Isabelle said, touching his shoulder. “You wouldn’t have the platonic mark if you did.”

He glared at her. “Don’t tell me how I feel.”

She sighed. “Listen. One day, someone is going to love you- heart and soul. Your romantic soulmark will write itself on your body and you’ll find him, the one who is waiting for you. Jace is your platonic soulmate, you can’t miss the parabatai ceremony, he’s your best friend, and he’s counting on you.”

“What if these marks are wrong, Iz?”

“Have faith, big brother. And considering you and Jace have been inseparable since you were ten, I’d say the platonic bond was right. And if this is how strongly you feel for him, just imagine how amazing your romantic bond will be.”

::

The ceremony was held in the cleared out training room under the supervision of their family and a few Silent Brothers. Alec walked in late, his doubts still nagging at him. When he saw the tension in Jace drain the moment he walked into the room, he knew he had made the right decision.

“Cutting it close,” Jace commented as they stood side by side.

“My bad,” Alec said with a smirk.

Jace laughed, absentmindedly rubbing where the words were on his skin. “After this, we’ll be brothers. Nothing will be able to separate us. You ready?”

Alec took a deep breath. There would be no turning back. Isabelle’s words were still clear in his mind. He nodded. “I’m ready.” 

The ceremony passed in a blur of emotions, bonds clicking into place, the burn of the rune that Jace drew on his hip, the weight of the stele in his hands as he drew upon Jace’s skin, the words of the oath fell from their lips solidifying the bonds.

He remained holding to Jace’s wrist, and noticed Jace hadn’t loosened his grip either. The parabatai bond was overwhelming his senses, he could feel the awe, and power, and rightness from Jace. The blond let out a laugh, overwhelming happiness swamping Alec’s senses until he was laughing too. They fell into each other, hugging, holding each other close while the bond tightened.

“Do you feel it?” Jace asked.

“Everything,” Alec agreed in wonder. Then fear.

“It’s okay,” Jace said, sobering slightly. “We’ll get used to it. No need to be overwhelmed.”

That was when Alec realized that while they could feel each other’s emotions, they might never know what caused them. “Yeah,” he pulled back a little, dazed.

“So,” Isabelle joined them. “Celebrations are in order. I baked a cake.”

Dread swamped the newly formed bond.


	3. Chapter 3

_**"All men have three ears, one on the left of his head, one on the right, and one in his heart."** _ **—Armenian proverb**

 

From his first mark, to his first rune, Alec’s body became an autobiography. At seventeen, he stood in the bathroom and wiped the layer of condensation from the mirror. Thick, black runes adorned his skin; Deflect, Angelic Power, Accuracy, Equilibrium. Some runes had sunken into his skin, layers of thin, white, scar-like lines of Runes that had done their duty.

He had soulmarks; the Protect glyph on his wrist remained. Thick, intricate, interlocking pieces of platonic soulmates lined his ribs, the words ‘woah, same side,’- the first words Jace had spoken to him, were woven into the design. Jace’s mirrored his, the words ‘my bad,’ interwoven. The mark had shown up shortly before Jace had been come to live with them. It wasn’t uncommon for those markings to show up on Shadowhunters that would later become Parabatai, as they had.

He had an arrow on the inside of his right forearm, weapon choices didn’t usually show up on the body, and he wondered if it had an alternative meaning. That was the thing about the marks, some of them had meanings that weren’t logged in a book, some only held meaning to that one specific person. He tried to ignore the marks as much as possible, he tried not to think about it when the balanced scales of integrity disappeared when he followed through on orders from the Clave that went against what he felt morally.

He tried not to think about soulmates, and first words. His parents, he knew, they didn’t match. While his father was his mother’s soulmate, she was not his. He had been raised knowing that the soulmark system had many flaws.

Still, when Isabelle came into his room one morning with a look of awe on her face, long letters but all squished together, he knew she believed. She believed in her soulmate, she believed that she would meet him, and that they would be together forever. She believed they were meant to be. With all her excitement, he didn’t bother to burst her bubble, but the words; _‘I’m in the band,’_ didn’t sound like a Shadowhunter’s words. It sounded like a mundane. And from then on, he worried. If she wanted to be with a mundane, she’d have her runes stripped. Fear gripped him, and his hatred for soulmates grew.

::

At nineteen, he and Jace returned from a hunt in the early, pre-dawn hours. They were sore from the fight, but uninjured. The Institute was running on a skeleton crew, everyone either getting some sleep, or still out in the city. They muttered an exhausted greeting to Raj, moving through the command center and heading to the weapons room.

The room was empty when they arrived, they quickly unloaded their Seraph Blades, Jace ditched his daggers, and Alec carefully put away his bow and quiver.

“I could sleep for a week,” Jace muttered just before he let out a long yawn.

“Unfortunately, we both have to be up by eight,” Alec said. “Those Clave officials are coming to look things over, remember Mom’s lecture?”

“Which one? She gave three,” Jace replied with a little smirk, unzipping his leather jacket and shrugging it off his shoulders. “But I get it, awake, alert, best behaviour.”

Alec shook his head, then noticed a large pink blotch on Jace’s collarbone. Panic struck him. He stepped in front of his Parabatai, and grabbed his chin to tilt it up, and carefully moved the v-neck shirt to the side to inspect the skin. “Did that demon get you?”

“No.” Jace swatted Alec’s hands away, and tried to catch his reflection in the glass case of an old dagger, confusion on his face. “That’s a big mark though.” He poked at the skin, as if testing it for tenderness. The confusion went away, and was replaced by wonder. “Could it be a soulmate mark?” For a moment his cool guy image slipped, and Alec heard the excitement.

Alec knew without the words coming in that they wouldn’t be the first ones he spoke to Jace. He just knew, it was almost unheard of for platonic soulmates to also be romantic soulmates. Shadowhunters believed that platonic and romantic bonds could not coexist, and if they did it would ultimately corrupt both.

He tried to be happy, after all, he knew how Jace worried what with his father’s _‘love is weakness’_ mentality had blocked Jace himself off to love- and by extension made him unworthy of having a soulmate. Still, Alec felt a little hollow, as if because Jace was gaining something, Alec was somehow losing a part of himself. Soon, he’d have to share his platonic soulmate with someone, and he wasn’t sure if he was ready to do that.  

“It must be,” he said reasonably, trying to force excitement into his voice. After all, it wasn’t his feelings that mattered, it was Jace’s. Always Jace’s. “It should probably come in by the time you wake up.”

Jace opened his mouth to speak, but then seemed to think better of what he’d been going to say. He shrugged. “Whatever, it’s no big deal.”

Alec rolled his eyes, Jace thought it was a big deal, he was excited, and clearly a closet romantic. “I’m happy for you,” Alec said, and found the words to be true. Even if he couldn’t be with Jace, he wanted someone to be soulmates with him, to love him entirely. Alec felt completely disenchanted, but he hoped that the woman whose words Jace’s skin would soon bear will also bear his, and that they fall in love- not just be together because of some words written on their skin.

After a few hours of sleep, (for Alec at least, it looked more like Jace stayed up staring at the blotchy skin) they met up in Isabelle’s room. The beautiful cursive flowed in red under his collarbone. _‘Watch where you’re going!’_

“Looks like the artist type,” Isabelle said, tracing her finger over the gentle curves.

Jace looked so happy, it was hard for Alec to be crushed. He was the oldest. His skin still bare. Of course, not everyone had a soulmate. It would be rather fitting, he thought, to be an anomaly.

Of course, there are things worse than not having a soulmate.

::

He’d been training with Jace that day, and took a couple of hard hits to his forearm while blocking so he thought little of the bruise, only bothering to draw a little Iratze which started to sink into his skin as he fell into bed. In the morning, he rubbed his eyes and caught the flicker of something on his arm. Not the red of most soulmate marks, but a glittery gold. The colour startled him so much it took him a moment to actually bother reading the intricate scrawl.

_‘’You look pretty worthless to me.’_

For all his hatred toward the marks, for how many times he’d scoffed, and hated how flawed the system was, he didn’t realize he’d still been holding out on hope. He’d wanted a mark of his own. He’d wanted someone to love him. Instead, it seemed he was destined for unrequited love, if that. Perhaps it was what he deserved, after being so bitter about the entire soulmate thing in the first place. 

His breath caught in his throat, and he pushed himself out of bed. No one would ever know. He grabbed the first sweater out of his closet and pulled it on. He felt a little steadier with the words out of view, but knew the sweater was just a temporary fix to a permanent problem.

He had time.

He could figure it out.

Only he didn’t.

He considered options, drawing a rune over it (however, other Shadowhunters had attempted it- on purpose, or by accident while in battle and the runes never took, simply fading away while the words stayed whole). A Glamour rune worked temporarily, the soulmate mark eating away at the falsehood till it could once again be seen- usually with no warning, which made it ultimately useless. Burning seemed to work temporarily (but the words always came back through the burned flesh), cutting came with the same result as burning.

“Bro, I’m in a t-shirt and I’m dying,” Jace said dramatically as they walked through the streets as the sun dipped down, night fast approaching. Around the collar of Jace’s shirt was darker, wet with sweat. Alec in his long sleeved shirt was worse off, it clung to him everywhere and he felt dehydrated. “Just… why, man?”

“Yeah, Alec,” Isabelle joined him. “You’re going to catch your death of heatstroke. You’re a good looking guy, what are you trying to cover up?”

“Checking out your brother?” Jace teased. Alec’s stomach clenched. “Really, Iz?”

“He’s handsome. We have good genes,” Isabelle said, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder. She turned gracefully in her heels and walked ahead of them but backwards. “Too bad the same couldn’t be said for you, Wayland,” she teased in return. “Now, Alec. I know how much time you spend at the gym.” She paused, and as she stopped walking backward, they were forced to stop walking forward. “You don’t have one of those eating disorder things where you think you’re fat, or not muscular enough and so you try-“

“Iz. No.” Alec’s face scrunched up. Could it be this was what everyone at the Institute thought of him?

“The only other thing it could be…” she raised her brow, and looked pointedly at his forearm.

“Alec doesn’t have a soulmate mark,” Jace said dismissively. “He would have told me. We’re soulmates of the platonic kind. We tell each other everything.”

Alec was quite sure he’d be sick. He hadn’t told Jace. Guilt topped off his cocktail of self-loathing, anger, shame, and grief for a person he’d never even met.

Jace nudged Alec’s ribs with his elbow. “Alec?”

With tears obstructing his vision, he turned to his brother, his parabatai, his platonic soulmate and pulled up his sleeve. He shut his eyes, afraid to see the pity, anger directed at him, or the disgust that he might find. From anyone else, he might be able to shoulder it, but not from Jace.

After a few seconds, he felt Jace rolling his sleeves up. Alec finally opened his eyes to find Jace neatly cuffing his sleeves above the elbow. He then looked Alec right in the eye, and pointed to his soulmate mark. “Forget that guy,” Jace said with an indignant anger. “That guy is a fucking idiot.” He said it so hotheadedly, so certainly, that Alec let out a half-sob, half-laugh. Jace’s hand too hot on the back of his sweating neck pulled him down until their foreheads and noses touched. “You deserve someone so much better than that, and you’ll find them. I promise you, Alec, you’re worth so much more than this.”

And Alec fell apart, Jace held him, and he felt whole. Maybe he didn’t need a romantic soulmate after all. All he needed was Jace, even if it was only platonic. He could be okay.

“No more sweaters in the middle of summer. Iz isn’t kidding about the heatstroke. You’re worrying me,” Jace whispered, thumb rubbing soothingly on the back of his neck. “We can find another way to hide it if you want, but this isn’t the way.”

Alec nodded against Jace’s shoulder, a little awkwardly since he stood a few inches taller. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice rough. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” He pulled back a little, and looked to Isabelle who had a single tear streak through her makeup. “Either of you.”

“Mom and Dad aren’t soulmates,” Isabelle said slowly. “But they’re together. They’re happy.”

“Yeah,” Alec replied, fully pulling back from Jace. He then stared at his parabatai for a moment. “You said that ‘guy,’ I… I never… I’m-“

“You’re gay, I apparently missed the part where you got your soulmate mark, but I’m not totally blind,” Jace replied. Alec tried to find something to say, his mouth opening and closing. “You kept checking out Nathaniel Greenglades when we were last in Idris.”

Alec’s eyes darted overhead. “I did not.”

“You did so,” Isabelle said with a little laugh. A friendly laugh. A laugh that said, ‘it’s okay to have a little crush.’

“Maybe a little,” Alec admitted with a shy grin.

“Question though, why is your mark gold?” Jace asked.

“Some are different colours, just like sometimes the marks end up in places other than the forearm,” she gestured to Jace’s collarbone to make her point. “It’s just most common,” Isabelle said. “There have been reports of pink marks. A few had blue marks. Red is by far the most common, all others are incredibly rare. Maybe gold means, ‘I’m a giant douchebag who isn’t good enough for you.’”

Alec snorted.

“Or,” Isabelle rubbed her thumb over her lip. “Maybe the words are somehow out of context. Like, maybe you’re sent by the Clave to rescue them, but they’re being held against their will and have to say whatever the bad guys want or be killed-“

“You’ve been reading that trash erotica Emily Blackwell’s been writing, haven’t you?” Jace said with a roll of his eyes.

Isabelle’s smile took on a wicked edge. “And just how do you know about those novella’s, Jace?”

“I’ve heard things,” Jace said harshly. “People talk, Iz.”

“Mhmm,” Isabelle hummed, making her disbelief clear.

::

In their full gear they headed to the Brooklyn Academy of Art. After investigating four dead mundanes, and their only overlap was that they were all students at the same University, they figured it was a good place to start looking. Demons peddling mundane blood, a big no-no with the Clave. Alec, Jace, and Isabelle were dispatched by Maryse to deal with it.

The school was open late, and there were only a few students still inside, one grabbing an energy drink from a vending machine. With their Invisibility Rune activated, they walked past the security desk without a problem. Isabelle walked ahead as she wore an old heirloom necklace that would pulse when it got close to a demonic presence.

“Guys,” Isabelle whispered after they’d walked a few minutes down the hall. They both looked at her to see the very faint glow of her necklace. “It’s here.”

Jace looked around, and then up. “But where. This place is huge.”

Isabelle walked a bit down another hall, but the pulsing ceased. “Maybe it’s up a floor,” she said when returning. They found the stairs and started wandering the second level. Almost immediately the glow became a richer colour of red, and the pulse of its glow sped up. They kept moving in the right direction, the pulse beating fast. Jace turned the corner first, and Alec watched him crash right into a young woman. She put a hand on the wall to steady herself, but she dropped her tin of paintbrushes.

She huffed out an annoyed breath, and glared at Jace. “Watch where you’re going!”

Alec looked over at Jace. He’d never seen his parabatai look so shocked. The girl crouched to pick up her paintbrushes and stood back up dumping them back into the tin. She was a head shorter than Jace, all fiery red curls, skin tight faded blue jeans with paint marks, and a lace black top that gave peeks of her pale skin beneath. Jace looked her over, and Alec knew the blonde saw what he did. A terrifying lack of runes.

Jace stepped closer to her. “You can see me?” 

The girl raised a brow. “Of course I can.” She shook her head. “Someone needs to lay off the energy drinks and get some real sleep.” She side-stepped around him, but paused. She waved gestured to the group of them. “Nice cosplay by the way,” and she continued down the hall.

Jace moved to follow her, but Alec reached out and grabbed him. “We have a job to do.”  

Jace swallowed hard, and stared up at his Parabatai. “Alec.”

“I heard.” Alec’s hands curled into fists.

“She’s my soulmate,” he said, almost reverently.  

“She’s a mundane,” Alec said, it came out as little more than a breath.

Jace looked back over his shoulder, staring longingly at the door she’d stepped through. It was still open, although they couldn’t see more than a counter with tins of paintbrushes, tubes of half used acrylics, and some pottery tools.  “Alec, she has the sight!”

“Oh! You guys scared me,” the young woman’s voice came into the empty hall. “I have this room booked…what is…” the confusion in her voice changed to fear, “stay away from me!”

Jace was already moving, and Alec found his long strides eating up the space between them. The young woman threw a toolbox at one of the three humanoid demons, which it easily deflected, however, its mouth split open horrifying the girl into letting out a piercing scream. Jace threw himself into battle, as Alec and Isabelle did, each taking a target.

One of them made a break for the back door only to have Isabelle’s electrum whip wrap around his neck, and she gave a firm yank bringing him to the ground.

Alec threw himself at the closest demon, battle coming as naturally as breathing. The entrance of Jace’s soulmate threw them all for a loop. She screamed. Loud. Alec could feel a sense of panic he rarely felt through the bond. He risked looking over. Jace had lost his blade in the fight. The girl picked it up, and it lit.

 _‘THE SERAPH BLADE LIT UP FOR THE ‘MUNDANE.’_ The thought was loud in his mind, repeating over, and over again. Alec stared in shock even as Jace kicked the demon back, it fell onto the blade the young woman held, and the demon went up in flames. She dropped the hilt and stumbled back as if it burned her rather than terrified her.

“Alec!” Jace shouted, and Alec came back to the situation, swiftly turning, ducking as the demon lunged at him. He pivoted, the blade an extension of his body, slicing an upward arch, and cutting the last demon open. When he turned back around, the girl had already disappeared, and Jace was looking around.

“Where did she go?” Jace shouted.

Isabelle pointed to the door that lead to the hallway. And just like that, Jace ran out.

“No. That’s fine,” Alec muttered. “Just leave us to question this one, and collect evidence for the Clave.” He put his boot down on the shoulder of the humanoid demon that Isabelle had incapacitated with her whip. “I’ll do your report too. No problem.”

“Now, now, Alec,” Isabelle jumped down from one of the desks. “He’s chasing his soulmate. Who are we to stand in the way of true love?”

Alec rolled his eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *a few content warnings at the end  
> (not graphic, and canon typical) 
> 
> **Also, to whoever I said 'oh Alec and Magnus meet in chapter 4,' I missed counting this chapter apparently. Good job me. Sorry. Next chapter, for real.

**There are two kinds of guilt: the kind that drowns you until you’re useless, and the kind that fires your soul to purpose. - Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes)**

 

The girl’s name was Clary Fray.

She could bear runes- which Jace had found out by drawing one on her after she’d been attacked in her home. Which was a stupid decision that could have killed her had she actually been mundane- and that likely would have gotten Jace deruned.

All in all, she was a complication. Her mother was missing. She had the sight, and could bear runes.  Seraph blades, Steles, and Witchlights would all come alive for her. She was one of the Nephilim. Soon enough, other marks started to come in. Soulmarks that had once been hidden.

‘You can see me,’ written under her collarbone in Jace’s neat, slightly left leaning script. On her right palm was a strange geometric pattern. No one had ever seen a soulmark like it. She’d become their mystery, and every day Jace became more and more wrapped up in her. Alec tried to give his parabatai space, or maybe, it was more for himself. He liked seeing Jace happy, but the jealousy still burned within him. The jealousy only grew when he discovered they’d gone to back to Clary’s house to look for clues. He didn’t really want to go, but his parabatai leaving him out of something like that made him feel abandoned.

However, Jace had left him with a gift. A custom archer’s arm guard. It didn’t look out of place for Alec to wear it. Being it a gift from his parabatai, and thus sentimental, no one made a mention of the fact that he wore it all the time. The Lightwood crest, as well as the symbol for platonic soulmates had been etched into the brown leather. It was just large enough that it covered the soulmate mark he didn’t want anyone to see.

He wore it in the training room, tossing his shirt on one of the benches with his water bottle. He didn’t get far into his exercise routine before Isabelle came walking in. For any other woman, what she wore would be considered a ‘going out’ outfit. For Isabelle, the wrap dress, heirloom necklace, snake bracelet and thigh high six-inch stilettos counted as battle gear. Alec still had no idea how she could fight as well as she did while practically walking on stilts, but he didn’t judge.

“Get geared up, we’ve got duty in SoHo.”

“Is Jace still out?”

“Yes. Why?” Isabelle checked her blood red nails. “Don’t want to spend time with me?”

Alec rolled his eyes. “Give me ten minutes and I’ll meet you at the doors.”

It happened more, and more. Jace being out with Clary. Alec hunting with Isabelle. He tried not to be jealous, and did what he could to block that feeling from going through their bond. Every once in a while he’d see the new couple in the Institute. Jace looked happier than he ever had. While Jace had always been enough for Alec, it appeared that Alec had not been enough for Jace. Alec tried to be happy for his parabatai, for his platonic soulmate. He did his best not to hate Clary for amounting to more in Jace’s eyes- and he failed, failed horribly.

::

The clicking of stilettos got louder until they stopped in the doorway of the library. “We have a mission,” Isabelle said for the third day in a row.

“Let me guess, just us two,” Alec said, looking up from the book he’d been reading. “ _Again.”_

“Jace and Clary are busy.” Her hands planted on her hips, on the bare expanse of skin between her low-cut leather pants and her shimmering crop-top. “Do you want to help find Clary’s mom?”

Alec scoffed, marked the place in his book, and set it aside. He didn’t want to spend time with Clary if he could help it. He knew he should want to assist them her, help Jace’s soulmate, but he was too bitter to actually do anything helpful. “Of course,” he said, a lie that tasted bitter on his tongue. “But someone has to do some actual work around here.” He stood, brushing off some crumbs from a scone he’d eaten earlier. “So, what is the mission?”

“Rogue warlock,” Isabelle replied. “Raised a greater demon.” She held up a hand before Alec could protest. “Relax. The greater demon has been taken care of by another unit, but they’re still looking for the warlock.”

“Got a name?”

“Yeah, Iris Rouse.” Isabelle moved the book he’d been reading off of his tablet. She used the device to bring up the file on the woman before passing it to him. “She’s got half a dozen warnings from the Clave, but no convictions.”

“So she upped her game to summoning Greater Demons.” He walked around her, knowing she’d follow. “Great.”

“Or, the reconnaissance team was wrong,” Isabelle said, her heels clicking as she fell into step with him, nearly two quick steps for each of his. “Her previous infractions were for aiding and abetting.”

Alec frowned. “Do we know what she aided and abetted for? Maybe she helped someone else summon demons.”

“Sealed considering she was never convicted.”

They turned into the weapons room. Another couple of Shadowhunters were there, but other than a polite nod, Alec ignored them. He used his stele to unlock the sliding drawer and unhooked his prized possessions, his bow and quiver. He strapped on a thigh holster, and grabbed one of the larger broadswords. “You ready Iz?”

She nodded, and he knew that despite her apparent lack of weapons, she had her whip, appearing as her mostly-non-threatening snake bracelet, her heirloom necklace spelled to let them know if demons were around, and probably a throwing knife in each of her boots.

They took the subway as close to their destination as they could. Apparently, Iris Rouse had holed up in a lovely little brownstone in a well sought after neighbourhood.

“So, what’s the plan?” Isabelle asked.

“You’re going to glamour your runes, knock on the door, and pretend to be a client.”

“Sending me into the wolves den?” Isabelle gave him a toothy smile.

He dismissed her comment with a grin of his own. “Nonsense, I’m sending the wolf.”

She preened at the compliment. “And what about you?”

“I’ll have eyes on you, and hopefully a good angle to shoot her if anything goes wrong.”

Isabelle nodded, and held out her hand. “Got the cuffs?” They were runed to hold warlocks. Alec pulled the metal out of his pocket, and Isabelle grabbed them. She then looked at her pants, frowning at the lack of pockets. She then shoved them between her breasts as Alec looked away, knowing damn well what she’d been about to do. She pulled her stele from her boot and drew the glamour rune which took away her runes, and some of her soulmarks, other’s refusing to be hidden- her soulmate mark included.

Alec didn’t like the little brownstone they came up to. The layout was all wrong. He looked around. The only good vantage point would be the third floor window across the street, where a family was clearly having a get together. “Damn it,” he muttered.

“I’ll be fine anyway,” she said, patting his arm. “This is textbook.”

“It’s a Warlock, Warlocks are never ‘textbook,’ Iz.” 

“Just stick to the alley, use your sword if it goes south,” she suggested. “But I have this handled.”

He sighed, but found he had little option but to listen to her suggestion. He crouched at the corner of the brownstone, peeking around, he saw Isabelle climb the stairs. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, but then raised her hand and knocked- not too hard, not to soft, three times.

She waited, but after a few minutes of no answer, she knocked again. This time a few seconds later the door swung open. “Yes?”

“Iris Rouse? I heard you could help a fellow Downworlder… for a price,” Isabelle said, looking around as if a nervous client. Alec’s hand tightened around the hilt of his sword.

“Depends on what you need,” Iris said, her eyes narrowing.

“A potion… a love potion,” Isabelle said.

Iris laughed. “You don’t look like you’d have a problem in that department.”

“Lust isn’t love,” Isabelle replied. “Look, if you can’t help me,” her hands crossed dramatically over her chest, and he knew she was attempting to pull out the cuffs, “there are other Warlocks who will.” Alec stared, Isabelle’s hand moved ever so slightly and he could see it. The faint pulsing glow of her necklace lighting up. There was a demon, and close.

“I’ll help you,” Iris said. “For a price.”

“Name it.”

“A blood oath. Your help when I need it.”

Isabelle drew a breath, and glanced down, and he knew she too knew about the demon- presumably inside the house. She charged without warning, the glint of the cuffs that Alec couldn’t tell if she actually got on Iris or not. They disappeared into the house and he cursed, running to the stairs only to have the door magically slammed in his face. “Damn it!” He pounded his fist on the door, against the ward. “Izzy!”  

When she didn’t respond he jumped off the side of the stairs. Fear sharpened everything, and he ran around to the side, he climbed up the fire escape discovering the third floor window partially open, and unwarded. Apparently Iris only had time to get the door warded, too distracted by fighting with Isabelle to do anything more. He climbed in, blade in hand.

He could hear the fight. Something glass shattered. The sizzling sound that followed the electrum whip cracked- and a pained shout followed. He tracked the noise into a hallway, but then heard strange murmuring from the other side of a door, along with a small cry.

Torn, he reached out and opened the door. His eyes widened in horror. A woman sat in a blood soaked bed, holding a bundle, its little face partially cleaned off with the blanket.

The woman, a mundane Alec was sure, looked at him. “Where am I?” She looked at the baby, then back to him. “How did this happen?” She sucked in a shuddering breath. “Am I crazy?”

Isabelle’s pained shout shifted his priorities. He could help the mundane woman later, right now, he had to help his sister. He ran to the stairs taking them two at a time, making all too much noise and giving himself away.

Iris twisted, her attention off Isabelle as she raised a hand, the magic slammed him up into the ceiling, then dropped him, instinct had him throwing his hands out, luckily not breaking either, but the pain shot through his arms as they gave out, but at least it kept him from smashing his face into the ground.

The Warlock made a move toward him only to have her hand caught in Isabelle’s whip. “Alec!” Isabelle slid the cuffs along the wood floor, and he grabbed them, ignoring his pain. Isabelle yanked on the whip causing Iris to move off balance and Alec launched at her, grabbing her other arm, and latching the cuff onto it. Once that one was on, it was easy to get her caught wrist into the second cuff.

He glanced at his sister, noticing her bleeding temple. “You okay, Iz?”

Isabelle slowly moved from her sitting position to standing, wobbling a second before straightening out. “Yeah, I’m good.”

There was a short scream from the third floor. “Damn it.” Alec took off toward the stairs, with a quickly barked order for Isabelle to stay Iris. The door was still open, and the baby was on the bed, squirming and crying in its little blanket.

He glanced around, and saw a little girl in the corner. She wore her hair in two braids, dark eyes stared at him, and a scarf around her neck almost hid the fact that she had gills. “Hi,” he said softly.

She gave him a shy, almost frightened wave.

“Nice gills.”

At that, her posture softened.

“The woman that was here, did you see where she went?”

The little girl frowned, her eyes welling up with tears. She pointed past Alec.

He turned and saw that the window was now open. “No,” he whispered, and forced himself to walk to the window. Looking out, he saw the woman in a nightgown, the blood… he closed his eyes and looked away. The baby on the bed still cried, occasionally sucking on its hand- hungry. The child was clearly no more than an hour old, and still covered in birthing fluids that he didn’t want to think about. He looked around, and found in the small closet plenty of small baby blankets.

He started to get a clearer picture of what was going on. Especially when he factored in the fact that Isabelle’s necklace had been pulsating. From his back pocket he pulled out his phone, dialled his mother, and pinned it between his shoulder and ear. He grabbed a diaper and clean blanket. He fastened the diaper on and re-swaddled the baby boy in the clean blanket, remembering how to do it right from when Max was little and he’d helped his parents.

By that time, his mother answered. “Has she been captured, Alec?”

“Yes, but it’s worse than we expected. We need help here.”

“I thought she was captured.”

“There is a dead mundane, she jumped out a window. There is an infant no more than an hour hold, a small child, maybe about five with a warlock mark, and Isabelle’s necklace is pulsing. There is a demon here, one of us needs to be with the prisoner, another with the kids, we need clean up on that mundane, and a team to find and eliminate the demon.”

He heard his mother’s deep intake of breath. “I’m dispatching a team now. They’ll be there in a half hour. The demon must be in the basement, away from the sunlight. You should be safe until a team arrives.”

“Mom, there is stuff in the closet, baby blankets, formula, and medical equipment,” he said, putting a voice to his fear. “I don’t think this is a once off.”

“Warlock breeding,” Maryse whispered before uttering a curse. “Absolutely barbaric. The Clave won’t stand for it. She will be punished under the fullest extent of the Law.”

Execution went unsaid, but implied. He hung up, and put his phone back in his pocket. Supporting the infant’s head, he cradled the child to his chest. “Come on,” he held out his free hand to the little girl. He had to get them out of the room the woman had jumped from. Or maybe, he just needed to be free of it.

She’d needed him. She’d been terrified. Just what did she remember? All of it? Some of it? Fragments that drove her to suicide. He asked the little girl where her room was, and the girl dragged him over to it. The room was painted in a soft lilac purple. The quilt on her twin sized bed was pink. There were more stuffed animals in the one corner than he’d ever seen in his life.

She had drawings tapped to the wall. All of them were signed, ‘Madzie.’  One of them was a dark figure inside of a square. He crouched, careful with the baby, he pointed to the picture. “Is this in the basement?”

The girl shuddered, and nodded.

“We’re safe here,” he pointed to the window. “They can’t touch us in the sunlight.”

In twenty minutes, a team had arrived. Another fifteen after that Isabelle came upstairs, declaring that Iris had been taken by a team, and was on route to Idris for trial.

“What happens with the kids?” Alec asked. “Did anyone say?”

“Yeah, David has contacted the High Warlock, and he sent another warlock to collect the children. The contact is already waiting downstairs.”

“Okay,” Alec held his hand out. “Come on, we’re going to get you somewhere safe.”

The little girl took his hand, and he took the two small children downstairs. A man in business suit waited, checking his Rolex, ignoring the blatantly disrespectful Shadowhunters around him, making comments as they collected evidence.

“Those the little bastards?” Dave asked, looking at the kids.

“Shut it,” Alec demanded, walking the kids past him. He released Madzie’s hand, and then carefully handed over the infant over to the Warlock. “He’s hungry, but I didn’t see any bottles.”

“I’ll handle it,” the man said, his magic a flickering green around his fingers, as he opened a portal, the swirling purple colours opening wide enough for him to fit. He grabbed Madzie’s hand, and then they were gone, and the portal closed.

Papers had swirled around under the intensity of the portal, and a Shadowhunter swore as she collected them.

“Should have euthanized them rather than report,” Dave said.

“They’re children,” Isabelle snarled before Alec had a chance to say anything.

“Who will one day be grown, and centuries old, and another fucking Iris Rouse.” Dave shook his head. “By the Angel, you’re not the one who had to scrape the mundane off the pavement.”

“That doesn’t mean that the children are to blame,” Isabelle said, and Alec saw the a dark mark nearly formed over her heart, the shadowy shape so close to fully formed that he could even tell what it was. A circle, two horizontal ‘y’ shapes, and a vertical line straight through the middle. The symbol of empathy, it didn’t often grace the skin of a Shadowhunter. “They didn’t do anything, they’re victims, just as much as that woman was.”

“They’re Warlocks, they’ll be the problem soon enough.”

“Dave, Alec,” another Shadowhunter shouted. “You’re needed in the basement.”

Alec begrudgingly followed along behind Dave. Isabelle, without any orders, followed them. The moment they entered the basement, Alec had the overwhelming urge to step back. It was at least ten degrees colder, and it felt like there was a weight on his chest.

Isabelle took his hand. “I feel it too,” she said.

It wasn’t something sensed, but rather something known even without evidence. They stepped inside. There was blood on the floor, and chains hanging from the ceiling. Ichor and scorch marks on the floor where the demon had finally been killed. The mundanes had been raped here, kept by Iris until their children were born, then what? Were they given what they’d first come to Iris for? Was that payment? Or did she make them go through it again?

Isabelle turned away. “I’ll be upstairs.”

Alec felt the same way, on the precipice of being sick. The Shadowhunter who’d called them down, James, stood with the same look of sickness the rest of them had. “You boys got enough for your reports, I don’t need to spell it out for either of you, do I?”

“No,” Dave said, turning on his heel and leaving.

James planted his hands on his hips. “The clean up on this is going to be a real bitch.”

Not a job Alec had the stomach for, and was luckily not assigned to. “I have reports to write,” he said, desperate to escape the suffocating reality in the room. He didn’t feel any better on the sunny, airy, main floor. He didn’t feel better when he and Isabelle walked out onto the street. He didn’t feel better on their subway ride home. He didn’t feel better after an hour long, hot shower.

Jace was sitting on his bed when he came out in just track pants, rubbing his hair with his towel. Without saying anything, Jace got up and hugged him tight enough to nearly take his breath away, an arm around his neck, and one hand on their soulmate mark. He felt a little better, like the burden was now shared.

The towel fell from his hand, and he hugged Jace back, tight, then tighter finding his own breath laboured in half sobs. “I got you,” Jace said, comfort coming along the bond.

“That woman-“

“I read the report,” Jace said. “You don’t have to tell me anything.”

“That Warlock,” he said the word like a curse.

Jace rubbed circles high on Alec’s shoulders.

His breath stuttered. “If I had stayed with the mundane-“

“Then Izzy could have been killed,” Jace said. “The woman wasn’t in immediate danger- you couldn’t possibly know she’d throw herself out a window. You did what anyone would have. Isabelle needed you. You made the right call, Alec.”

“She wasn’t the only woman there.” Alec only found out after, that other Shadowhunters had found unconscious women in various stages of pregnancy.

“I know,” Jace whispered.

“Warlocks,” Alec muttered.

::

The Rouse incident would be the talk of the Institute. Control in New York hung by a tether. Shadowhunters acted against orders. More and more Downworlders were being killed when they were supposed to be captured. The Clave ignored the transgressions, and the Downworlders were both nervous and angry.

Alec noticed around the upper part of his neck a thin black line, that only didn’t make it all the way around because soulmarks couldn’t intersect a pre-existing rune (just as runes couldn’t be drawn over soulmarks), thus jumping the top part of his Deflect rune.

Guilt. The line around his throat was guilt. He shut his eyes and saw the woman on the ground, her limbs at strange angles. He opened his eyes, afraid to shut them again.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rape/non-con; mentioned (canon) In reference to Iris Rouse and her warlock breeding hell-house.  
> Suicide; non-graphic. Mundane unnamed character.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Sharp are the arrows of a broken heart-_ Cassandra Clare (City of Heavenly Fire)**

In the early morning hours, Alec had spotted his mother looking particularly frazzled. It was a rarity, Maryse Lightwood looking like anything but in absolute control. He grabbed two mugs in the kitchen, and prepared them both a coffee knowing that he would find her by now in the office.

He managed to keep both mugs in hand while opening the door with three fingers. “Hey Mom. Coffee?”

She looked up, her dark eyes widening a little, shifting from Alec to the coffee in his hand. She extended a hand. “Thank you.” 

He passed hers over, and took a seat. “Everything okay?” He didn’t want to pry, but his mother had dark circles under her eyes, her hair wasn’t as pin straight as it usually was, and he’d heard her shouting at a subordinate when she usually handled things with a dangerous calm voice.

Her eyes turned from the coffee to a file left open on her desk. “After Rouse, Shadowhunters are jumpy, and angry. I’ve been to more disciplinary meetings in the past two weeks than I have in the past two years. The Clave is looking to me to control this Institute, to ensure that New York runs smoothly, but we have the High Warlock sending in complaints, the Alpha of the local werewolf pack has pronounced two of his young members dead by a Seraph blade and wants blood, a mundane was turned into a vampire without consent and now the Clave wants the vampire responsible, but the vampires have the protection of the warlocks.” She sighed heavily. “This isn’t your problem.”

Alec shrugged. “It is, I work here.”

“True. I want you and your siblings to be careful tonight. It’s not just demons you need to watch your back for. We have multiple Shadowhunters reporting being injured by Downworlders.”

“What about the Seelies?” Alec asked, noticing they hadn’t been mentioned.

“Eerily quiet,” she replied, then took a sip of coffee. “It might mean nothing, or it might mean they know something we don’t.”

“Maybe you should talk to Isabelle about it.” He took a sip of his coffee, then noticed the face his mother made. “I know you don’t like that she has Seelie friends, but in this instance it might be helpful.”  

Maryse didn’t shut down the idea, nor did she endorse it. She drank a little more. “We need to get the Downworld back under control, or we might lose control of the Institute,” she said, more to herself than to him. “Consul Malachi is already breathing down my neck.”

A hard knock on the door made them both turn. Ruth Whitewater stood in the doorway, a grim expression on her face. “Maryse, you should come see this.” His mother immediately left, following the other Shadowhunter. Ruth practically ran the Infirmary. Whatever had happened, it wasn’t good.

::

“You need to take it easy on Clary,” Isabelle said. They were out on their own hunting again. Jace and Clary were unwrapping the mystery of her kidnapped mother. They had gone to Silent City to see if any of the Brothers could help. Alec thought he and Isabelle should be with them, but instead, they were covering for the two by hunting demons in Chinatown.

“She’s messed everything up-“

“Jace is happier than ever.”

“And where is he?” Alec snapped. “Off with her.”

Isabelle paused and looked up at him. “Are you… jealous?”

“No.” Alec rolled his eyes. “We’re getting assignments for a group of four. They’re supposed to be here. Instead, it’s just the two of us.” They were lucky to have gotten through the Iris Rouse incident relatively unscathed. The city felt darker, almost unwelcoming, and the feeling crawled like ants under Alec’s skin.

She touched her whip with a smirk, either unaware (unlikely) or unconcerned (also unlikely) about the political climate. She always walked into a room with confidence, even if it was faked. “Two Lightwoods, hardly fair to the demons.”

His teeth grinded together. While he wasn’t personally responsible for all of New York, the Institute was run in their family name, and the current fighting reflected poorly on all of them.  “Iz, be serious.”

“I am,” Isabelle looked happy, and poised. “This will be a piece of cake.”

The noise from the alleyway caught their attention, Alec took his Witchlight from his pocket to illuminate the space.  The scuttling sound came with a steady hum. “Demons,” he muttered as the light illuminated eerie red eyes.

The charmed bracelet uncurled. “Let’s do it.”

With the narrow space, and only Isabelle fighting with him, Alec didn’t bother with his bow. He needed to be on the front line to keep the demons from getting to his sister’s blindside. They move with the ease of practice, but Alec felt like he was missing a limb without Jace by his side.

From the corner of his eye, he spotted a demon crawling on the wall about to launch at Isabelle. He dropped his blade, got his bow in hand, and notched an arrow all in one fluid motion. The rune lined arrow set the demon aflame. However, while protecting Isabelle, he left himself open, and two demons managed to get him with their stingers before Isabelle even realized what happened.

He slammed his bow down on one of the demons, it knocked it back, but didn’t kill it. Isabelle’s whip however sliced through the demon covering the whip in ichor. Alec felt a weight on his back, knocking him forward another step as a stinger imbedded itself in his spine. He let out a pained scream as he fell to his knees. Isabelle’s dagger killed the demon on his back, and he picked up his blade, killing the last demon by his leg. Three stingers were imbedded in his flesh and bones; right calf, left thigh, and mid-spine.

Incapable of remaining upright, he fell forward, and into Isabelle’s arms. She cried out for him. “Stay with me, Alec. Stay with me.” She rested his head in her lap. The pain, and venom made him sick, and his vision go blurry. The burn of her stele against his arm helped him focus, but he knew it wouldn’t do much.

“Iz.”

“I’ve got you, big brother- Mom! Come quick. It’s Alec. He’s hurt really bad,” Isabelle said into her phone, rattling off their location. “You’re nearby?” She paused, listening. “Three stingers. There is one in his spine, Mom.”

Alec passed out at some point. He awoke to his arm being settled over his mother’s neck. “Hey, my sweet boy,” his mother hardly ever spoke with such open affection. That more than anything told Alec how bad off he had to be. “You’re going to be alright. Isabelle, grab his other side.” With his arms over the shoulders of his mother and sister, they counted to three before lifting as one.

Having braced for pain, Alec was surprised when it didn’t come. Then he felt sick. “Mom,” the word had an edge of panic that made his mother look over at him. “Mom, I can’t feel my legs.”

“We need to get him to that Warlock quick,” Maryse said, she and Isabelle dragging Alec’s weight between them.

At the mention of a Warlock, he shuddered. After Iris had been executed, another Warlock had been killed by a Shadowhunter. The Shadowhunter said they’d been attacked first, but there was no evidence either way. The Warlocks of the city were furious, and believed it was an unprovoked murder. If his mother was actually taking him to a Warlock, he knew things had to be really bad. She drew a quick glamour rune on him before loading him into the taxi.

::

Alec remembered little from in the taxi. Only that Isabelle received a call from Jace, and even Alec, barely conscious could hear the sheer panic on the line. Jace promised he’d be there. When they arrived at the historic building, Jace was pacing outside, Clary standing awkwardly to the side.

“By the Angel, Alec,” Jace touched his face, and only with the heat of Jace’s hands did Alec realize how cold he felt. “You’re going to be okay, come on,” he pulled him from the car, but his legs still refused to work. Jace pulled an arm over his shoulders, and Maryse supported his other side. “Iz, get the doors!”

The interior held history, and the scent of sage and old books. The elevator was smaller than it had any right to be, and they just barely all fit.

“Hey, stay with me,” Jace said, his hand under Alec’s chin when it drooped.

“I’m trying,” Alec muttered weakly.

They dragged him down the hall to where Isabelle beat her fists against the door. “Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn. Open up!”

The door did open, displaying a man who stared at them with open contempt. Black kohl lined his brown eyes, his hair an artful dark mess with blue streaks. His shirt was open, and there were lipstick prints down his chest. His pants were zipped, but the button left undone, his feet bare, and his toenails glittered.

“Magnus Bane,” Clary repeated softly behind them.

Magnus ignored the other Shadowhunters, his eyes shifting from Isabelle, to Clary, he appeared surprised for a second before his eyes skimmed over Maryse, and the mask of distain returned. “You have some nerve coming to my doorstep, Maryse.”

“I need your help,” Maryse replied, the strong voice of someone used to making demands and expecting those orders to be followed.

“And how desperate you must be.” His muscular, but lithe body leaned against the doorframe.

“He needs help.” Maryse snapped. “Now.”

“I don’t care. You tried to kill me, and came uncomfortably close to succeeding. Perhaps you’ve forgotten, but I haven’t,” Magnus replied, blue flames flickered around his fingers, swirling up to his palms, a silent threat. “Not to mention, one of your Shadowhunters _murdered_ a Warlock in my city. Not that you were particularly concerned about that.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Take him to a Silent Brother.”

“He won’t make it,” Jace said. The certainty in his voice told Alec what he already knew. He was losing the battle to stay conscious, and soon after would lose his life. His parabatai would be able to feel his life force getting weaker. “We don’t have time, please.”

“The Institute will pay double your fee, Bane.” Maryse’s eyes narrowed. “Now heal my son!”

“Your son, hmm?” Magnus’s eyes shifted and scanned over Alec’s body, his dark eyes returning to Maryse with utter contempt. “Double the fee? You really think a Lightwood is worth it?”

“Of course he’s worth it,” Maryse snarled.

Magnus stepped into his space. With his last bit of strength, Alec managed to keep his head upright. Their eyes locked, and Alec stuttered out a breath at the scornful smirk on the Warlock’s face. “You look pretty worthless to me.” He turned heel, and Alec nearly fell as Jace abandoned him to run forward, grabbing the Warlock by the arm.

“Please,” Jace begged, which shocked Alec, Jace never begged for anything, not to mention he risked the ire of the Warlock. “I’ll do anything, just help him. He’s my parabatai, my soulmate. Please. I’ll sign a blood oath. Whatever you want, Warlock. Please, help him.”

“Jace, no!” Maryse snapped. 

“’s okay, Jace,” Alec muttered, the words hard to push out, his mouth feeling like it was full of cotton balls. He wanted to comfort him, but the bond felt so weak, and everything felt worlds away.

“Alec!” The word was screamed, and the pain in it along with a surge of panic through the bond snapped him back to wakefulness, though he couldn’t have been out more than a second. Jace stood in front of him, holding his face in his hands. “Stay with me, stay, Alec.” He turned away, and Alec saw the fury in Jace’s profile. “Do something! Please!”

He heard Isabelle’s voice, but couldn’t make out the words. His mother still held him, but he couldn’t feel her. He remembered stain glass, a grey chaise, and building blocks. No longer could he feel Jace’s hands on his face, the voices of his family were gone, and soon he couldn’t feel anything tying him to the world. In a hallway, somewhere in Brooklyn, Alexander Gideon Lightwood died.


	6. Chapter 6

**_When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching… they are your family._ ** **-Jim Butcher**

  


Sunlight filtered through the large bay window, and warmed his face. Alec didn’t have a bay window in his room. He didn’t have such nice curtains either. His brows drew low as he stared at the outrageously ornate golden dresser. He turned his head to the other side, and understood why he felt safe. In the chair beside the bed, Jace sat with his head tipped back, his mouth open slightly as little snores came out in a steady rhythm.

The door opened with flourish, and Alec had to really focus on his fuzzy memories to identify the man. Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn. _’You look pretty worthless to me.’_ Alec swallowed hard. The man toyed with one of his earrings, pausing in the doorway. His rings glinted in the light. The emerald coloured shirt he wore glimmered, and hung off the body he saw a lot more of earlier. The pants were skin tight, and left nothing to the imagination. He held an air of confidence, and had a sensual way of moving as he stepped forward.

Standing at the foot of the bed, Magnus lifted the blankets just enough to set them over Alec’s ankles. “Can you feel this?” Magnus asked, running his finger along the arch of Alec’s foot. It tickled, and he jerked back, sitting up. Magnus smirked. “Looks like everything is in working order.” He then turned his attention to Jace, strode over to the night table, opened the drawer, and pulled out a feather. He then stuck it in Jace’s mouth.

Jace gagged, swatted the thing away, and stood. He made a disgusted sound as he brushed his tongue over the back of his hand. “What the hell?”

“Had to wake you up somehow, Shadowhunter,” Magnus said with a little shrug, twirling the feather around. “Your boyfriend is back in working order.”

Confusion, then elation on Jace’s face before he turned to Alec. “Alec! You’re alright!” A second later, Alec had his arms full of his parabatai. “Don’t ever do that again, you scared the daylight out of me.”

“What happened?” Alec asked his fingers digging into Jace’s t-shirt, unwilling to let go quite yet.

“You were hunting with Izzy,” Jace said. “Do you remember that?”

“A bit,” Alec admitted. “We were in an alleyway. We were outnumbered.”

“You were stung three times. Once in the spine, Alec. You could have been paralysed.”

“Oh, he was,” Magnus interrupted. “And trust me, that’s not an easy fix, and it will reflect in our deal.”

Jace glared at Magnus, but quickly returned his attention to Alec. “Iz called Mom, she was at a meeting near where you guys were. She and Izzy brought you here. They weren’t sure if the Silent Brothers would be able to treat you, and the entrance to Silent City was too far. I… I felt it through our bond, this numbness, and pain, and I knew you were in trouble. I called Izzy and met you here.” Jace leaned back, and his eyes held great sorrow. “I should have been with you. I’m sorry, Alec. I’m so sorry.”

Alec touched the guard on his wrist, comforted by its presence. “Jace-“

He shook his head. “We brought you to the High Warlock of Brooklyn. Who, by the way, is a total douche nozzle.”

“I’m adding insults to my bill,” Magnus said dryly. “By all means, keep going.”

Jace was a picture of rage as he turned to face him. “You let him die! We begged you, I offered a blood oath, and you let him die!” Alec felt his stomach drop.

Magnus waved it off. “He was hardly dead a moment before I poured magic into him. Much like a mundane’s defibrillator. He’s fine now. And I did take you up on that blood oath. He’s alive. He’s in perfect health. Might need a little bit of extra sleep for the next few days, but take him. I’ll be calling on you when I need that favour, Shadowhunter.” He smirked at Jace, before walking away. He paused at the door. “I want you both out of my home within the next five minutes.”

The second the door shut, Jace held up both middle fingers in that direction. He let out a sigh, and turned to Alec. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

::

His parents and siblings were at the door when he and Jace arrived at the Institute. Alec couldn’t remember the last time his mother hugged him with such intensity. “Alec,” she squeezed him extra tight before releasing him. “Thank the Angel.”

His father pulled him into a bone crushing hug next. When he pulled back, Robert looked Alec over before patting his shoulder. “Be more careful next time, okay.”

Alec swallowed hard, and nodded.

Isabelle wrapped her arms around him, and he felt the shoulder of his shirt grow damp. It took a second for him to realize it was Isabelle’s tears, his sister never cried. She sniffled a bit, holding tighter as she tried to pull herself back together. She looked up at him with a weak smile, and finally pulled back.

He glanced down a bit. Max stared up at him. “I heard you got hurt.”

Alec crouched down. “I did.”

“And a warlock healed you.”

“He did.”

“What was he like?” Max wondered.

Alec couldn’t tell his nine year old brother he thought the warlock was a total asshole. “Professional,” he said.

He tilted his head a little. “And you’re alright now?”

“Yeah, Max, I’m alright.” Max smiled, and hugged him. Alec held his little brother tightly, the gravity of everything he could have lost finally hitting him. He had died, no matter how briefly, he’d left this world, his family.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Alec.”

“Me too, Kid,” Alec whispered, and pressed a kiss to his brother’s temple. “Me too.”

::

Unable to sleep, Alec kicked off the blankets, and turned on the bedside lamp. Even on the fringe of death, the words hit like a physical blow. _’You look pretty worthless to me.’_ They hurt more than they had any right to. Five words that managed to dig into his soul and make him feel insignificant, unlovable. He looked down at his arm, the gold words in beautiful calligraphy were displayed. Those were the first words his romantic soulmate had ever spoken to him.

He tried to think of what he’d said to the man. Nothing. He’d said nothing to Magnus. He’d only spoken to Jace. While Magnus was clearly Alec’s soulmate, it didn’t mean Alec was his. Since Magnus was a man, a warlock, and a total asshole, Alec simply vowed never to get into a position where he ever had to be in the presence of the man ever again. Alec would forgo romance, he’d put himself into his work as he always did. Nothing changed because he knew the identity of his soulmate.

Still unable to sleep, he got out of bed, put the arm guard on. He pulled track-pants on over his boxer-briefs, and grabbed one of his sleeveless shirts, pulling it overhead as he walked to the door.

Given the time of night, it didn’t surprise Alec that the hallways were empty. However, he found that there was one person in the training room. His mother. He hadn’t seen her train in a long time. He knew she remained highly trained, he simply never was around when she worked out. He found it a little odd to see her in a sports bra, capri yoga pants, and running shoes when she was always business suits, and heels. She spun and hit the punching bag with a roundhouse kick. Like this, he saw the resemblance between her and Isabelle.  Usually their opposing personalities made it difficult for him to see them as similar.

His mother, covered in runes, and soulmarks moved swiftly. He saw the Gladiolus on her ribs, Oleander on her inner bicep that had bloomed when Isabelle had been born, and mostly hidden by her sports bra was the sunflower that was over her heart that came in after the birth of Max. There were other marks, marks he didn’t know the meaning of, and knew it was rude to ask.

She worked her way around the punching bag, stopping when she saw him. “Alec. What are you doing up?” she asked, a little breathlessly.

“Couldn’t sleep,” he admitted. “Figured I’d train.”

“After what happened today, you should rest,” Maryse said.

“I’m fine,” he insisted, and he really did feel okay. He wasn’t tired, and felt almost overly alert, like someone had activated his Stamina Rune while he wasn’t paying attention.

“Are you? Really?” Maryse looked him over. “Magnus… he isn’t a good man.”

“He did his job, he healed me,” Alec said. He didn’t like the man, but he had ultimately held up his end of the bargain. “I feel fine, great even.”

Maryse frowned. Her eyes looked him over, like his body might hold evidence of Magnus’s indicted cruelty. “He hates Shadowhunters.”

“I vaguely recall him saying something about you trying to kill him,” Alec raised a brow in question. “The Uprising?” He’d heard whispers, he knew that running the Institute was his parent’s punishment as much as it was Hodge’s. However, his parents could leave, they could still hunt, and they could take their kids outside. They’d been given lenient sentences because they’d quickly surrendered, and perhaps even more leniency had been shown because he’d been just a toddler when the Uprising happened.

She sighed, and nodded. “I almost did kill him,” she confessed, staring down at the floor. “But more Shadowhunters came, demanded I surrender, and… I thought of you.” She looked up at him. “My little boy needed me, and I didn’t believe in Valentine’s vision any longer. Valentine, he’d become more, and more erratic. Everything was a mess. He had control over everyone’s lives, he was a master manipulator. Neither your father nor I wanted to be part of the Circle any longer, but we didn’t know how to leave. Our lives were too entangled with him to separate safely.”

“So, you were fine with slaughtering Downworlders?” Alec felt sick, he walked over and sat on the bench.

After a moment, Maryse sat beside him. “No. No, I wasn’t okay with it, but I was willing to do it if it meant keeping those I love safe. He’d tried to convince us it was in the best interest of the Clave. _‘The Clave is too lenient,’_ he would always say.” She paused, playing with a thin bracelet on her wrist. “Valentine once spoke to me alone, told me he trusted me, I was his most loyal soldier- later I would find out that he told this to all of us in private- but he also said that he knew I would never leave the Circle. After all, he said, ‘what would happen to Alec?’ An indirect threat, and I knew he wouldn’t have mercy even on you.” She looked at him and sighed. “Regardless of my growing distrust of Valentine, I couldn’t leave. Many of the Circle members believed in him, Robert and I didn’t know who, if anyone, we could trust. His own parabatai had shown signs of doubt, then had been bitten by a werewolf while hunting with Valentine. I still think Lucian was set up. We thought he’d died. We’d been told he’d died.” She shook her head. “They were dark days.”

“We’re supposed to protect Downworlders,” Alec said. “That’s part of our mission.”

Maryse rubbed her temples. “And we’re supposed to punish those who go rogue. Valentine sought to cleanse this world. He thought it was the will of the Angel. And the Circle… we believed in him. Until we didn’t. Until we saw what that we weren’t just killing demons, or hunting rogue werewolves, guilt hadn’t been proven, we weren’t avenging, we were murdering.” She turned in her seat, and pointed to a swatch of black low on her back. “See this?”

The mark looked like someone had taken a paintbrush with black paint and left a thick smear over the skin. “Yeah.”

“It showed up when I realized how far Valentine had gone. It is a mark of my regret. I’ll never be rid of it.” She turned to him once again. “I will bear what I’ve done. Don’t let yourself ever fall into the same trappings as I did, Alec.” She pushed back some hair that had fallen out of her ponytail. “I could have lost you because of something I did decades ago. Karma is a cruel bitch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas xo Might be a little slow on the updates for the next week with all the festivities.   
> Have a safe and happy holiday <3


	7. Chapter 7

**_Write kindness in marble, and injuries in the dust –_ Persian Proverb**

 

The group of four took care of the demons in Manhattan early in the evening. “Good,” Jace said, wiping ichor from his blade. “We need to talk to you two about something.”

Alec and Isabelle shared a look. “What is it?” Isabelle asked, winding her whip back up.

“When we went to Silent City, the Brothers discovered a block on Clary’s mind,” Jace said. “It was put there by a powerful warlock so she’d be blind to the Shadow World.”

“Okay, so which Warlock was it?” Alec said. “Maybe he or she can undo it.”

“That’s what we’re hoping,” Clary said, she sent a nervous glance Jace’s way.

“What?” Alec asked, catching the silent exchange.

“He signed her mind,” Jace said. “Magnus Bane.”

“Son of a-“

And that was how they ended up outside of the historic four storey building. Alec didn’t remember much from his last visit, and was able to appreciate the architecture this time around. He still wanted nothing more than to avoid Magnus Bane. At the same time, he had no intention of letting Jace, and Isabelle going in without him. “Let’s get this over with.”

The elevator gave him a touch of claustrophobia, and he let out a relieved sigh when they were let out on the top floor. His relief short lived as they stepped out into the hall. The closer they got to the door, the worse the sick feeling in his stomach got. He stopped moving as the rest of them did, all staring at the door. He’d died here. Swallowing hard, he pushed past the dark thoughts.

Clary, who stood right in front of the door, raised her hand to knock, but froze. She looked back at them, her eyes seeking Jace’s and he nodded. With his blessing, she stood a little taller. It was one of those little things between them, anyone could see their bond solidifying.

Three raps on the door, and Clary stood waiting.

A woman answered the door. She looked them over. “Shadowhunters.” Her glamour fell away, showcasing her blue skin. “Get lost.”

“I need to see Magnus Bane,” Clary said.

“I need Shadowhunters to stop testing my patience,” the blue-skinned woman replied, her eyes narrowing dangerously. “Now, leave!”

The woman tried shutting the door, but Clary stuck her boot in the way. “He put a block in my mind!” she shouted. “Let me talk to him right now!”

“Let them in, Caterina,” Magnus’s voice came sounding exhausted.

“Pushover,” Caterina replied, but the woman took a step back, opening the door. “Well, don’t just stand there. Get inside.”

The Shadowhunters moved inside. Once they were past the entrance way, Alec spotted Magnus leaning heavily against the wall, apparently he’d been trying to get to the door. He had a purpling bruise on his jaw, marring his beautiful caramel skin. His lip was split, and he had an arm defensively­­­­­ over his ribs. In an attempt to straighten up, and appear more powerful, he instead let out a pained gasped and nearly doubled over, to keep himself from falling, his hand flew out to the decorative table, knocking a vase over in his efforts.

“Magnus,” Catarina cried out.  Alec was faster, boots crunched on the shattered glass, he reached out and steadied him. The Warlock looked up at him, surprised. “Get your hands off of him,” Caterina swatted him away, and took up guard at Magnus’s side. “I think he’s been worked over by your kind more than enough today.” She carefully guided Magnus, holding some of his weight. “Come now, let’s get you back to the couch. I told you to stay seated. I haven’t even had the chance to look you over yet.”

“Our kind?” Isabelle whispered, hand over her heart, her empathy mark.

“Don’t bother pretending to be so surprised, child,” Caterina said.

“Of course I’m surprised,” Isabelle snapped. “Are you saying a Shadowhunter did this?”

“A few of them,” Caterina replied. “They were _questioning_ him.”

“About what?” Isabelle asked.

“Does it make a difference?” Caterina shot a glare her way, before returning her attention to her friend.

“Can we… can we do anything to help?” Clary asked, stepping forward.

Caterina’s face actually softened. “No. I can care for him myself.”

“Clarissa Fray,” Magnus said. “I wondered how long it would be till you were back at my doorstep. I expected it to take you longer, but alas, it is what it is.”

“You blocked my mind of the Shadow World,” Clary said. She looked to Caterina who waved her hand over Magnus’s body, her magic flowing, healing wounds both seen and unseen. “Maybe we should do this another time.”

“Well, it’s nice to see they haven’t snuffed your compassion yet,” Magnus said. He conjured a drink, or at least tried to, the glass ended up in his hand, but the alcoholic content ended up on the expensive rug by the fireplace. “Well, shit.”

“I told you not to use magic,” Caterina scolded. “You’re not well enough yet. And no drinking.” He sighed, then groaned. Caterina switched from healing his face to focussing on his ribs.

“I could get you a drink,” Clary offered. “Of water, of course.”

Magnus half smiled, and Alec looked away from the man. He couldn’t help but think of the cruel words on his arm, but even so, something about that smile did stupid things to his insides that he didn’t at all feel comfortable with.

“That would be nice, Clary,” Magnus said.

It took a few minutes as they stood there waiting for Caterina to finish healing Magnus. Clary brought him a glass of water, and hovered around him as if she expected him to lose the strength to hold the glass.

“I’m not on my death bed, Biscuit,” Magnus said to Clary. “I think I can manage holding a glass of water.”

Clary raised a brow. “Think you can talk to me about putting a block on my mind?”

Magnus sighed deeply. He poked at his own chest, apparently deeming it healed. “Your mother requested it.”

“My mother?” Clary shook her head. “Why would she do that?”

“To protect you,” Magnus replied softly. Alec wanted the animosity back in Magnus’s voice, the complete disregard for Shadowhunters, it made it easier to hate him. Instead, he showed a softness to Clary. “She left the Clave while pregnant with you. When you started showing signs of seeing the Shadow World, she brought you to me. I created a block, you’d forget the moment you saw something of this world.”

Clary sat down close to him on one of the antique, high-back chairs. “Why? Why didn’t she just teach me about what I saw?”

“She didn’t want you to have any part of this world.” Magnus took a small sip of the water. “It would be too dangerous for you-“

“And for her. She was taken from our home!” Clary stared at him, and Alec could see the tears building in her eyes. “There were demons! And if it weren’t for Jace, I’d be dead.”

Magnus stared at her for a moment, and sighed. Reaching, he grabbed a box of tissues, and passed it to her. “I’m sorry all of this has happened to you. For whatever it’s worth, she thought keeping you ignorant on the matter would keep you safe.”

“I need to find her.” She swiped the tissue under her eyes and managed to smear her mascara. “To do that, I need my memories. Maybe I saw something, or heard something that will help me find who took her.”

The Warlock remained quiet for a moment, before turning to Caterina. “Be a dear, grab me my copy of the Grey Book, it’s in my bedroom. Second bookshelf from the window, third row from the top.”

Caterina gave the Shadowhunters a wide berth, and exited the room. 

“I can’t simply undo the block, if I did, it could very well leave you with significant brain-damage. However, your mother didn’t bring you in for your latest session and clearly you’re seeing things of our world now.” Magnus perked up as Caterina returned, and passed the large tome to Magnus. He cracked it open, and flipped through sheets of runes. “Ah, here it is.” He passed the book over to Clary.

“What is it?” Clary asked, before staring down at it, tracing the rune with her finger.

“Just, keep looking at it,” Magnus advised.

Alec took a step closer to see the page it was open to. The Remembrance Rune. He watched as Clary’s eyes glazed over a little, her finger still tracing the rune. “There was a demon in Central Park,” she muttered, blinking a few times. “I was seven, and it… it came out of the water. Mom… Mom had a Seraph Blade.” She looked back down at the book, but Magnus reached over and flipped it shut.

“That’s enough for one day,” Magnus said, taking the book back. “You might find memories coming back to you now, slow and steady.”

“Magnus, I need to find my Mom. You knew her.” Her big green eyes were beseeching. “Please, help me. Is there anything you know, anything at all that might help me figure out who took her?”

He took a deep breath, his painted fingernails tapping the hardcover of the Grey Book. “I could send you anywhere you’d like to go, Clary Fray. Anywhere in the world. Your mother didn’t want you part of this.”

“But I am,” Clary replied, ever stubborn. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll find her with, or without your help!”

Magnus sighed. “I will tell you. Just you. If you wish to tell your friends afterwards, that is your decision, these are my stipulations. I’ve had enough of being around the Nephilim for one day, and you’re my one exception.”

“I’m not leaving you alone with her,” Jace said.

“Jace, it’s fine,” Clary said. “I’ll be okay. If my mom was taking me here since I was a kid, she trusted Magnus.”

Jace’s warring feelings of anger, protection, and fear were thrumming through their bond. “He _let_ Alec die,” Jace’s feet were planted as if he expected things to come to blows.

“Maryse’s spawn is still breathing,” Magnus replied, generally waving in Alec’s direction. “Don’t be so dramatic.”

Clary just stood, and laid one hand on the side of Jace’s neck. Even Alec felt a watered down sense of peace at the touch.  “Just wait downstairs. I’ll be there in a few minutes. I’ll be fine, Jace.”

Placated, Jace nodded. He shot Magnus one last glare, before turning, Alec and Isabelle following. Alec glanced back once, finding Clary at the edge of the chair, while Magnus ran fingertips along his jawline where the bruise had once been.

They waited on the sidewalk.  The longer they waited, the more fidgety Jace became. “She’s fine. You’d know if she wasn’t, right?” Alec had never before asked Jace anything about his soulmate bond with Clary, but he assumed it worked similarly to their platonic soulbond- a steady thrum, like a heartbeat (although, it was hard to feel over the much louder Parabatai bond.)

Jace took his eyes from Magnus’s window, and turned to Alec. “Yes, I’d know.”

Alec leaned back against the brick wall. “So relax.”

“Just because she’s physically fine, doesn’t mean she’s doing well emotionally,” Jace replied softly. “It’s not like the Parabatai bond, Alec, I can’t feel her like I feel you. I know she’s alive, and that’s it.”  His hands balled into fists. “I just wish I could help her.”

“You will,” Isabelle said. “You’ll help her through this.”

Instead of answering, Jace just looked back up at the highest window.

Alec was glad that Jace was distracted by Clary’s bond, he showed no signs of noticing Alec’s turmoil.


	8. Chapter 8

**_Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. -_** **Bertrand Russell**

In the privacy of Jace’s perfectly clean bedroom, Alec, Jace, Isabelle, and Clary sat around in a circle on the floor. Clary told them what Magnus had told her; that her mother had been named Jocelyn Fairchild, a Shadowhunter woman married to Valentine Morgenstern. Fearing her husband, Jocelyn had run away with their unborn child and raised her as a mundane.

Most of it they’d guessed- like that Jocelyn had been a Shadowhunter, and that she’d run away from the Clave for some reason. None of them had guessed that she had been the wife of rogue Shadowhunter, murderer, and Clave’s #1 most wanted criminal, Valentine Morgenstern.

“He must have been the one to take her,” Clary said, her voice quiet in her fear.

Jace’s hand settled on top of Clary, and he looked at her with such adoration, Alec had to fight the urge to look away. “This doesn’t change anything. We will find your mother.”

“How?” Clary asked.

“I-I don’t know,” Jace admitted. “Valentine’s been off the radar for years. Some even suspected he’d died.” Jace’s eyes turned to Alec, but he could only shrug, he didn’t have any idea how to find Clary’s mother, and surely he wouldn’t think of something that the Clave hadn’t in their near two decades of looking for Valentine. Jace turned back to Clary. “We’ll figure it out.”

::

Three weeks were spent chasing dead end leads. While they believed that Jocelyn hid the Mortal Cup from Valentine, Clary didn’t know what cup they were talking about. They’d gone through the antique store on the lower floor of the building, but the place was trashed and every chalice taken. Without the cup, they didn’t have a bargaining chip, and the only good thing was that Valentine clearly didn’t know where it was either.

In his workout gear; a pair of black trackpants, and a thin black shirt, he headed toward the training room only to see Clary come into the Institute alone. He paused in his step as she strode toward the command center. “Weren’t you out with Jace?”

Clary looked up at him. “Yeah, but Magnus finally called in that favour.”

Out of fear, Alec gave a mental tug on his parabatai bond, checking it, but it was strong. He could feel Jace, calm and clear. Without the focus on the bond, it blended back into the background of his mind. His attention shifted back outward, to Clary. “Do you know what for?”

“An ingredient for a spell?” Clary shrugged. “Jace said it would be easy. He even sounded surprised, he thought the price tag would have been higher.”

“Yeah, well, the warlock let me die,” Alec replied bitterly. “He doesn’t really put much value on my life.”

Clary frowned. “He has a problem with Shadowhunters. Your mother tried to kill him, remember?”

“So you’re on his side? You’re a Shadowhunter, Clary. Don’t be so naive.” He felt like he was trying to talk to his little brother, but even he had the good sense to be wary of Downworlders. “Your mom might have paid for his services, but that doesn’t mean you can trust him.”

“He healed you.”

“After he let me die,” Alec snapped bitterly. “And he brought me back with a price, not out of the goodness of his heart.”

“Hey, found you guys,” Isabelle smiled widely, an apron covering her dress. “I just finished dinner.”

Alec grimaced, and searched for a quick excuse not to eat whatever she’d cooked. “Ate an hour ago,” Alec didn’t lie technically, he had eaten an apple while doing some laundry.

Clary frowned. “Sorry, I had a bite to eat while I was out with Jace.”

Isabelle sighed, and glanced around. “Where is Jace anyway?”

“With Magnus,” Clary said. “He called in that blood oath favour.”

Isabelle stood a little straighter at that. “What for?”

“A spell ingredient.” Clary sounded a little bored having to rehash the same information she’d already given Alec.

“That… doesn’t sound too bad,” Isabelle said with a thoughtful little wrinkle between her brow. “Unless it’s like a demon pincher, or part of the Senia plant in the Seelie Glades or-“

“Can we not talk about all the danger my parabatai could get into while without backup?” Alec’s shoulders tensed with every word from his sister.

Isabelle had the decency to look apologetic. “My bad, sorry, Alec.”

“You don’t have to worry so much,” Clary said. “Jace is an amazing Shadowhunter. I’m sure he can handle whatever Magnus asked of him.”

Clary’s gushing about her boyfriend, as if she knew Jace better than he did- His irritation took a swift turn into pain. A breath hissed out from between his clenched teeth, as his hand covered his parabatai rune.

Clary gasped, her eyes wide and fearful. “Alec?”

Alec mentally reached for the bond and found it taut, vibrating with pain that lanced through his own body. He pulled his attention away, knowing it wouldn’t bring him any clarity of Jace’s situation, but could render his own body useless if he let the pain in. “Jace.” His eyes locked onto Isabelle’s, and his fear reflected as she came to the understanding of what was happening. “He’s hurt.” 

Pausing only to unlock the weapons chest, he pulled his bow and quiver before running out of the Institute, Clary and Isabelle on his heels. They hopped on a streetcar, their glamours ensuring they could ride without paying the fee, but they had to be careful to avoid bumping into the mundanes.

“This is taking too long,” Alec whispered.

“Jace is strong,” Isabelle said.  

“I’ll kill that warlock,” Alec hissed. “If he hurt Jace, I swear on the Angel, I’ll kill him.”

“We don’t know that’s what happened,” Clary snapped.

“Stop defending him!” Alec snarled back, wanting to hurt her, but holding back- not out of control, but strictly because she was Jace’s soulmate. He’d cut off his own hand before he hurt what brought Jace the most joy and affection. “Jace went to pay off a debt to this warlock, and now he’s injured. You can’t tell me that’s not connected.”

“We don’t have all the facts!” Clary glared up at him. “Such assumptions are dangerous!”

“Stop!” Isabelle put herself physically between them, breaking up their heated staring contest. “We find Jace. We start at Magnus’s since it’s the last place we knew he was. We will find him. Focus on Jace, not your little pissing contest.”

They had to switch lines, jumping off one streetcar, and barely making it over to the next one before it departed.

“This is taking too long,” Alec moaned, the pain coming in waves through his parabatai bond.

“I know something is wrong,” Clary said, looking to Isabelle. “Why don’t I feel it like Alec does?”

“The romantic soulbond is different than a platonic soulbond, and those are both vastly different from the parabatai bond,” Isabelle said, keeping her eyes on the window to keep track of where they were. “The first two are a choice, sure, there is some pressure there, but a choice none the less. You don’t _have_ to love your romantic soulmate, and your platonic soulbond doesn’t _have_ to be your closest friend.  The parabatai bond is a contract. A very real exchange of soul fragments. Alec feels more because he literally has part of Jace’s soul mixed with his… and part of his own soul is within Jace.”

“Apparently I need to do more Shadowhunter studying.” Clary said. “I still feel so lost.”

“I’ll help you,” Isabelle offered. “Especially since Jace is obviously a distracting tutor.” 

Alec’s fingers tightened around the bar overhead, his knuckles turning white under the pressure. “Iz.” His sister’s dark eyes turned to him, softening when she saw the state of him. “It’s bad,” he whispered. “It’s really bad.”

She took his face in her hands, and he struggled to pull himself away from the bond, away from the agony Jace felt, so he could focus instead on her. “Stay with me, Alec. We are going to find him. We’re going to find him,” she repeated a second time, speaking the words slower, the determination behind them giving him hope.

Clary reached over a mundies head, and pulled the yellow cord, the _stop requested_ light came up at the front of the train. “Our stop,” she said as the streetcar slowed to a standstill.

They rushed out the back doors, and Alec took the time to finish off his speed and stamina runes, and pulled down his glamour.  With the rush of his active runes as he took off ahead of the women, desperate for answers.

He pushed the door open so hard it hit the wall. He ran through the lobby, too jittery to wait for the elevator when he knew he could do the stairs in less time. Anger coursed through his veins. How dare Magnus hurt his parabatai! Jace’s panic and pain slid across the bond, and Alec pressed his hands against the wall, trying to regain his balance as it nearly overcame him. His fist hit the wall and the real, physical pain allowed him to get his walls back up.

He had to find Jace.

_He had to._

His fists beat against the door, a loud, violent rhythm like war drums.

The second the door opened, he grabbed Magnus by the lapels of his fancy burgundy suit jacket, and shoved him hard against the wall. They physically wrestled for only a moment, Alec’s training kicking in and he managed to get Magnus’s hands pinned to the wall to keep him from using magic.

Magnus snarled, his body arching, arms pulling trying to free himself. His knee glanced off of Alec’s thigh, and he knew exactly where Magnus was trying to aim. To keep from getting kneed in such a sensitive area, he pressed his body tightly against Magnus’s. The warlock stared up, brown eyes defiant.

Alec’s own eyes narrowed, his lip curled with disgust. “You monster!” Magnus continued to struggle, but his outrage didn’t hold a candle to Alec’s fury. “What did you do to him?”

The warlock paused in his struggle, his eyes wide and fearful. “Let me go! I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“JACE!” Alec snapped.

“H-he left a half-hour ago,” Magnus said, he wore a mask, but Alec felt his body trembling.

“Where did you send him?”

“I didn’t send him anywhere!” Magnus’s words were infused with his own righteous anger, but still held the hint of fear.

Alec’s hands tightened around the warlock’s wrists. “You sent him to get an ingredient.”

“I already got what I wanted from Jace.” Magnus hissed out a breath, and Alec knew he was holding tight enough to bruise. “He paid his debt, and he left!”

The pain lanced through the bond, and Alec gasped, his hands flexed, releasing Magnus as the pain nearly crippled him. He fell to his knees under the agony, his arms wrapping around his middle, like he could hold himself together while his body wanted to fall apart. Isabelle’s heels came into view and he heard, Isabelle warn Magnus to stand back. The light of her seraph blade kept Alec protected as he tried to shut down the bond again.

Alec took a deep breath, and took a look at his surroundings, trying to ground himself. Isabelle stood in front of him, seraph blade lit, guarding him while vulnerable. Clary stood behind him, looking at him with a fearful expression. Lastly, he turned to Magnus, who faced off with Isabelle, his dangerous magic swirling like blue flames and smoke around his fingers.

“Take your Shadowhunter and leave,” Magnus snarled. “I won’t ask twice.”

Isabelle backed up, crouched and helped Alec to his feet. With his last glance at Magnus, he saw the bruises already forming around the warlock’s wrists.

::

With Jace in the Infirmary, Alec had to admit that he had been wrong. Jace explained that Magnus had wanted a vial of Shadowhunter blood, clearly easy for a Shadowhunter to give, and while beyond valuable and frowned upon by the Clave to be used in magic, Jace had little choice but to give it to Magnus or suffer the deadly consequences of going back on a blood oath.

He’d been ambushed on his walk home by a group of demons, the size of the group worried them all. Ravenor demons hunted in packs, but a group of forsaken this large? Bad news. He’d managed to take them down, by both skill, and dumb luck, but had been too injured to drag himself from the alley. His runes hadn’t held up, and he kept passing out from blood loss.

Alec’s runes held strong, thanks to their shared parabatai bond making the runes he drew on Jace stronger than those Jace could draw upon himself. It had been enough to get him back to the Institute where a Silent Brother waited.

While Jace would need to rest, he would be fine, and back to his full health in only a couple of days thanks to his angel blood, and the runes of both Alec and the Silent Brother. Knowing that Jace would be alright, he went to take a shower.

The hot water usually could loosen the tight muscles of his shoulders, but the weight of the day remained as heavy as always. He’d terrorised the High Warlock of Brooklyn. He’d made assumptions, and been proven wrong. _Clary was right._ The guilt gnawed on him. Not only would the Clave look down on his unsanctioned questioning of a Downworlder with such status, but…

He pressed his head against the cool tile. Without his armguard, his soulmate mark stood out on his skin. _‘You look pretty worthless to me.’_ Maybe Magnus hadn’t been wrong. He felt pretty worthless at the moment. His job was to protect people, not harm innocents.

“He did let me die,” he muttered to himself, trying to find some of that fury he’d had earlier.

The bruises on the man’s skin made Alec feel sick. Killing demons, no problem. Wayward Downworlders being taken in to be judged by the Clave, no problem. While he’d believed Magnus’s guilt, Alec had been proven wrong. Alec had hurt him for no reason.

His fingers pressed along the golden words.

“Shit.” He lifted his head only to thump it against the tile again. The first words he’d ever spoken to Magnus- _‘You monster!’_ Knowing how long Magnus’s words had haunted him, he wondered how long Magnus had gone around with that on his arm. Or, while Alec might be his soulmate, he might not be Magnus’s. Perhaps Magnus had something completely normal like, _‘Beautiful day, isn’t it?’_

He stayed under the scalding water, trying to feel clean again.


	9. Chapter 9

**_For the first time in a long time I've met a man that makes my heart want to stay._ \- Nikki Rowe**

 

“Alec,” Jace drew out the ‘a’ sound in his name.

Whenever Jace drew out his name like that, it was because he wanted to have or do something Alec wouldn’t approve of, and also wanted Alec to tag along. “No,” Alec replied automatically as he continued to raid the fridge for snacks, wanting to have something to eat before Isabelle tried to cook.

“You haven’t even heard what I wanted!”

“Answer is still no,” Alec replied. Snapping a baby carrot in half with his teeth, he turned. “Whatever you want, no. A million times no.”

Jace pouted, and he turned the full force of the ‘puppy eyes’ on him. “Alec, please. I just got out of the Infirmary. It was _so_ boring. I just want to go out for a little night of fun with my best friend.”

 _Shit._ Playing the best friend/parabatai/soulmate card. Alec felt himself weakening under the wide golden eyes. Alec popped the other half of the little carrot in his mouth, chewing as he glared. “Damn it. Fine. Where are we going?”

And that was how he ended up at the Hunter’s Moon on Open Mic Night.

However, he soon discovered that it wasn’t just as Jace had said. He didn’t want just his ‘best friend.’ No, this was Clary’s idea, so they could meet her mundane best friend, who would be performing at the bar. Isabelle had warmed instantly to the idea of a night on the town, and so the four of them had gone.

Alec stood with the group, in the midst of the crowd all trying to get drinks before the band started. He just wanted a water, well, really, he wanted to go home. He’d promised Jace to come out though, promised to play nice with Clary. He still felt like garbage three days after the incident at Magnus’s, and tried to make up for it in little ways with his friends, like it would somehow erase the bad karma he’d surely incurred, not that he believed in karma, but his guilt still gnawed on him.

Jace and Clary were trying to get drinks at one end of the bar, while Alec stood close to Isabelle while they tried the other side. “Do you remember what Clary’s friend’s name is?”

Alec raised a brow. “No. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Isabelle sighed. “I don’t want to make a bad first impression. This is Clary’s best friend.”

“So?” Alec rolled his eyes. “He’s a mundane.”

“Clary is our friend-“

“Really?”

“My friend. I’m trying to be supportive,” Isabelle said. “I’ve never really had a close girlfriend before. I grew up with you guys, and most of the girls I do know are catty bitches.”

“And you don’t have claws,” Alec said with a smirk.

Isabelle smirked back, like a mirror image. “I’m an angel.”

“In part,” Alec said teasingly.

It was so crowded that when a man moved, he bumped Isabelle ever so slightly. She took a step to compensate, keeping balance in her six inch heels. She ended up completely cutting off a young man with messy brown hair, and large glasses. She smiled widely at him. “Are you playing tonight?” she said, pointing to the sage green acoustic guitar with multiple stickers all over it.

The young man smiled shyly and shrugged. “I’m in the band.” He kicked his sneaker into the floor, glancing down at the guitar, then back up. “We’re called Rock Solid Panda.” He bit his bottom lip, and the two of them just stared at each other, shy glances and sly smiles.

 _‘I’m in the band.’_ Alec looked him over, the man had no soulmarks, no runes. A mundane, just as he’d feared.

“Simon!” Clary shrieked, a drink in her hand as she wormed her way through the people separating them. Simon pushed his guitar to the side, under his arm, the strap keeping it in place as he reached out an arm, and the two of them were hugging awkwardly avoiding the guitar, and careful to keep from spilling Clary’s drink. “I’m so excited to see you play, it’s been too long!”

Simon laughed, his eyes drifting back to Isabelle.

“Oh, you’ve already met?” Clary said looking from Simon to Isabelle.

“Not formally,” Isabelle whispered, her eyes still on Simon.

“Wait,” Simon turned back to Clary. “You two know each other?”

“We have some catching up to do,” Clary said with a laugh. “Simon, this is my new friend Isabelle. Izzy, this is my oldest, most wonderful friend, Simon.”

Isabelle held out her hand. “A pleasure.”

Simon looked shocked, and thrilled, starry-eyed, he gripped her hand, and looked surprised by her grip. “The pleasure is mine,” he said back. He was distracted, and Alec saw a man waving an electric guitar over his head. “Oh, crap. I have to go.”

“We’ll see you after the show,” Clary promised. “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Simon flashed her a smile, then glanced again at Isabelle. “A-are you… staying?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Isabelle promised. “Break a leg.” She then frowned. “Not literally. Just… you know, knock ‘em dead-“ she looked horrified. “Not…ahh-“ It would have been funny to see the usually unflappable Isabelle out of her depth, but it was painfully awkward, and Alec suffered from second-hand embarrassment.

“She means, may the force be with you,” Clary said, bailing her friend out.

“Yes!” Isabelle jumped on it, though she clearly had no idea what Clary was talking about. “May the force be with you,” she repeated, and Simon looked ready to burst with happiness.

“Thanks,” he said then started walking around them, looking back every few steps like he thought Isabelle might just be a mirage.

Jace burst out laughing once Simon was out of earshot. “By. The. Angel. Izzy! What was that?”

She looked over her shoulder at Jace, the shock on her face silenced him. “He’s my soulmate.”

“What?” Both Jace and Clary said; Jace with a pitch of horror, Clary with excitement.

“He’s a mundane,” Jace said.

“I know.”

“This is amazing,” Clary said. “You and Simon, romantic soulmates. They are romantic, right?”

“Yeah.” Isabelle turned to Alec. “I need air.”

“Okay,” Alec said, he looked to Clary and Jace as he put an arm over his sister’s shoulders. “Save us seats.” He escorted her outside, and he stood back as she started to pace, her high heels clicking in a clipped beat on the pavement.

“He’s my soulmate.”

“Yeah.”

“He’s mundane.”

“You knew that was a possibility, Iz,” Alec said, sounding calmer than he felt. “Those words… you had to know.” She had to have thought about it. The Angel could only count the nights that Alec lost steep worrying over it.

She took a deep breath through her nose, and then out through her mouth. “He can’t live in our world.” The Clave forbid it, and the only way for her to live in his would be to break away from the Clave, and be deruned.

“You can’t live in his,” Alec said, almost begging. The thought of being cut off from his little sister, of her being without the protection of her runes.

“I could,” she whispered.

“You would be banned from Institutes, from other Shadowhunters,” he fought for her to see reason. “Mom and Dad.  Jace. Max.” He swallowed hard. “Me.”

“I- I felt something in there Alec. I was fumbling over my words, my heart was nearly beating out of my chest. He has such kind eyes.” Her eyes were begging, and he frowned at being given the ‘puppy eyes’ twice in one day. “How can the Clave say it’s wrong when his words are on my body? He’s my soulmate.”

Alec felt like pulling out his own hair. “He is mundane!”

She quickly brushed her fingers under her eyes, wiping tears before they could fall. “I know. I know!” She sniffled a bit. “We need to go in. Nothing needs to be decided now.”

“Iz.”

“I need to get freshened up,” she turned and walked back in.

He pressed his back against the brick of the Hunter’s Moon, and covered his face with his hands. Damn Soulmate marks to the deepest pits of Edom.


	10. Chapter 10

**_It takes a great deal of character strength to apologize quickly out of one's heart rather than out of pity. A person must possess himself and have a deep sense of security in fundamental principles and values in order to genuinely apologize._** **-Walt Whitman**

 

Isabelle ran her thumb over the glossy nail polish on her other fingers, and chewed her bottom lip. Alec didn’t know how to deal with his sister when she was like this; unsure, insecure, and nervous.

“He’s so nice,” she whispered.

They were both sitting on her bed, early in the morning, after returning from listening to Simon’s band play at the Hunter’s Moon. Alec couldn’t really say anything bad about Simon, he’d been polite, kind, and seemed rather smitten with Isabelle. Even the band’s music wasn’t terrible.

She had Simon’s number written on a card, and kept flipping it over, and over in her hand. The penmanship matched the writing on her wrist.

“What now?” Alec asked, his voice hoarse.

She pulled her phone out, and entered the number. “Now,” she said, opening the messenger, “I ask him on a date.” She sent the text off, and Alec felt sick to his stomach. “It doesn’t mean it will go anywhere.” She gave a casual shrug. “I mean, he’s cute, but nothing special.”

The words were false. They both knew it.

“I’m going to get some sleep,” he said, patting her shoulder. “Good night, Iz.”

“Night, Alec.”

 

::

Alec tried not to notice Isabelle’s absence the next week. She was often out doing things like, ‘shopping,’ and ‘going for a walk,’ or ‘hunting solo,’ which they all knew was bullshit and code for, ‘date night with Simon. Again.’ He wanted to desperately for things to go back to how they were, before Soulmates got in the way of everything. He checked the log book, and discovered that Jace had failed to put his report in on the incident with the Werewolves from the night before. He send Jace a quick warning text, because when Maryse found out, and she would, she’d be furious that Jace had yet again forgotten.

Upon seeing his mother’s approach, he quickly minimalized the screen. “Alec, good, I found you.”

Alec clasped his hands behind his back. “Good morning, Mother.”

She nodded. “I need you to keep an eye on the High Warlock. He’ll be in at the front doors of the Institute at nine-thirty. Or should be. He loves to make me wait, but he is contractually obligated to do the wards for the Institute, and they’re due to be refreshed. I’d supervise myself, but I have to be in a meeting with a few Clave officials.”

“I understand,” he managed to say without choking on the words.

His mother continued down the hall, and he sagged against the wall. He checked his watch, and figured he had just enough time to shower off his morning run, and get dressed before Magnus arrived.

As it turned out, he had more than enough time. He waited at the front doors of the Institute like a statue, his posture ridged, his hands clasped behind his back, feet shoulder with apart. It was nearly ten o’clock before Magnus appeared out of the swirling purples of the portal.

Magnus went from straightening out the buttons on the cuff of his sleeve, to looking up and spotting Alec. His eyes went from annoyed, to straight up hostile, narrowed into angry slits. His upper lip curled in distaste as he climbed the stairs. “Here I was thinking if I ever saw you again, it would be too soon.”

The hatred in the man’s voice cut Alec straight to the core. Behind his back, his fingers brushed over the armguard that covered the first words Magnus had ever spoken to him. “I’m sorry.”

That had Magnus’s eyes widening. “Sorry? A Shadowhunter apologising? Is this a joke?”

“It isn’t,” Alec said lowly, his eyes dropping to the cuffs of Magnus’s sleeves. He wondered if there were bruises still on his wrists, of if they had faded, or if magic had made them disappear. “I-I was scared for Jace,” he admitted, his eyes travelling back up to meet the warm brown of Magnus’s. “It doesn’t excuse what I did to you, and I’m sorry.”

Those dark eyes narrowed again, distrust clear. “Are you going to let me get my work done? My time is money.”

“Right, of course, sorry,” Alec turned, and pushed open the door to the Institute, letting Magnus go in first, and shutting it behind himself. “Where do you usually start?”

“The training room,” Magnus replied. “I then work clockwise.”

Alec took him to the training room, and watched as Magnus worked his magic. The motions of Magnus’s body, the fluidity of the casting, the soft flowing blue, it all ensnared Alec. There had never been anything as beautiful as watching Magnus work. He saw the sigils on the walls before they faded in. Magnus turned back to him, and Alec’s breath caught in his chest. All his feelings, all his walls had crumbled as he’d become entranced in Magnus’s casting- and he saw Magnus for the first time without pre-assumptions, without the dark clouds of disappointment, and anger, or hatred.

The little smile on Magnus’s face came from the magic, Alec knew, but he wished it were for him as there was something so soothing, so warm and friendly about it. The tousled hair had a strands of electric blue, and somehow Alec hadn’t noticed outside. The dark eyes that usually looked at him with distain were still riding the high of magic, and hadn’t yet become guarded. Overall, there was something sweet, friendly, and familiar about Magnus.

Magnus’s composure returned, his walls up in a flash. Alec took a deep breath, and tried to ignore the pain that settled in his chest at the thought that this animosity would be all that would ever be between them. He tried to remind himself that Magnus had let him die, he’d pulled Jace into a blood oath rather than take the money his mother offered. He also remembered the bruises he’d caused on the warlock’s skin.

“Next room,” Magnus said, his tone distant and cold.

Alec nodded, and led the way. “Thank you.”

“What?”

“For the wards,” Alec elaborated. “Thank you for protecting us.”

“It is my contractual obligation as the High Warlock of Brooklyn to secure the New York Institute,” Magnus said. “It’s written in the accords.”

“Thank you, regardless.”

Magnus glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. “First an apology, now a thank you?” He looked around, but there was only one other Shadowhunter coming out of the room they were headed for. “What’s your angle?”

“Angle? I don’t have one.” Alec stopped and rubbed the back of his neck. “I was in the wrong, thus owed you an apology. You are providing us with strong wards, and deserve to be thanked. It’s that simple.”

“Thanked?” Duncan, the Shadowhunter who’d walked out of the library, said. “What the Hell is wrong with you, Lightwood?”

“Have you ever had demons attacking you while you sleep? No. You haven’t,” Alec asked and replied before Duncan could get a word in edgewise. “And that is because Mr. Bane wards the Institute so it is protected, and overlooked by demons. So, Duncan, there is nothing wrong with me thanking the High Warlock for doing his job, and doing it well; unlike you, who managed to let a prisoner escape before being questioned. Good luck getting back into my mother’s good graces after that shameful performance.”

“Seelies are tricky,” Duncan said, a weak defence.

Alec made a little humming sound, his arms crossed over his chest, and subconsciously, he’d shifted to stand between Duncan and Magnus. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Duncan glared, but turned on his heel, and continued down the hall, disappearing around the corner.

Alec took a deep breath before turning back to Magnus. “Library is next.”

Magnus looked a little surprised, but it was then hidden behind his mask of indifference. From then on, the warding was quiet, Magnus doing his magic, and Alec watching, spellbound. He escorted him back to the front door. While Alec tried to figure out how to say goodbye, Magnus just walked down the steps, summoned a portal and disappeared.

::

Jace, Clary, and Isabelle were out of the Institute, along with Simon the four of them were on a ‘double date.’ Alec had done his best to keep the worry off his face when Isabelle walked off dressed to the nines. He’d spent Isabelle’s entire lifetime trying his best to protect her, his thumb ran idly over the soulmark on his wrist. This was one thing he couldn’t interfere in, one thing he couldn’t help her with. Isabelle had to decide for herself if she would leave the Clave for a mundane, or leave her soulmate to remain loyal to the Clave.

And somehow, he would have to be okay with her decision. Deep down, he wasn’t sure which was worse. For all the fear he had of her leaving the Clave, it devastated him to think she might have to give up her heart. 

His phone went off, and Alec reached across the desk to retrieve it. **Isabelle**. He answered, and she launched off, speaking so fast he could hardly distinguish one word from the next, but he got the gist of it.

Vampires managed to kidnap Simon, and they wanted the cup in exchange for his life.

But they were still no closer to finding out where the cup was than they were when they started. Alec lied, told Isabelle that Simon would be fine, he forced the words of comfort trying to make them sound real. He tried to ignore the heavy sense of foreboding, grabbed his bow, rushed out to join them. Ultimately how hard they looked hadn’t mattered.

Raphael, second-in-command of the New York Clan, brought them Simon’s limp body. Isabelle had already been crying, frustrated and afraid. With an incomplete bond she hadn’t been able to tell if Simon was alive or dead.

_Dead was the answer._

“It’s not fair,” she wailed in the rarely used basement of the greenhouse. She held his body to hers, holding him tight, kept his head resting against her beating heart. “I-I just found him.”

Clary was distraught, her hands resting heavily on the table, her fingers gripping so hard her knuckles turned white.

“There is a way,” Raphael said slowly.

And that was how Jace and Alec ended up digging a grave.

::

Simon, now a vampire, now a part of the Shadow World started to display soulmarks. The first, his romantic soulmate mark, ‘are you playing tonight,’ adorned his skin. Isabelle had cried as she explained soulmate marks of both the romantic and platonic nature, as well as soulmarks- since he, a vampire, didn’t understand why he was getting bruises. She spent all of her time hovering around the fledgling who fumbled around the Shadow World, angry, confused, and scared. Isabelle and Clary spent most of their time trying to help him.

Shortly after, it became clear that Simon and Clary were platonic soulmates when his came in, and Clary showed him hers. Had they both been shadowhunters, they would have likely gone through the parabatai ceremony.

Raphael, to his credit, also did his best to help, Simon was one of his now. He helped Simon navigate the vampire world, and gave him a place to stay at the Hotel Dumort.

Alec rubbed his face in exhaustion. Days stretched abnormally long, he hadn’t been getting enough sleep, spent his time training or working. Jace and Clary came bursting into the archery range and he slowly loosened up his grip, letting the arrow remain notched but pointed his bow downward. “What?”

“Tell him,” Jace elbowed Clary in the ribs, and she took a step forward.

“I think I might know where the cup is.”

“Excuse me? You’re just remembering now?”

“Look, stay with me,” she stood beside him, and opened her sketchbook.

He looked at the page. “An apple. Fascinating-“

“Alec,” Jace warned.

Clary put her hand on the paper, then inside of the paper.

“What the fu-“ his words slowly slipped into silence as he stared in shock.

She lifted her hand out of the page, and it now held a bright green apple, the page now blank.

He looked from the apple, to the book, to her face. “What the hell?”

“Some gift that must have been passed down,” Jace said. “We think, anyway. Clary says there is a set of tarot cards that her mother painted.”

“And one of them is the Ace of Cups, and now that I’ve seen pictures of the Mortal Cup,” her eyes shifted from the apple in her palm, and up to Alec, “the one painted on the card looks just like it.”

“We think Jocelyn has the same gift as Clary,” Jace said. “And that she put the cup inside of the tarot card for safe keeping.”

Alec remained quiet for a long minute, but when Clary went to break it, Jace just motioned for her to keep silent. He knew how Alec was sometimes, needing time to process. “Okay.” Alec let out a breath, un-notching his arrow from his bow, and twirling it back into his quiver. “That sounds as crazy as anything else in our lives, so why not. Where are these tarot cards?”

Clary actually smiled at him. “My mother kept them in a chest under the floorboards in her bedroom.”

“Then let’s go.”


	11. Chapter 11

**_It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend._ \- William Blake**

After Clary had showcased her talent, pulling the cup out of the card- having the three of them stare at the Mortal Instrument in absolute wonder- she put it back in for safe keeping. Jace tucked the card into the inner breast pocket of his leather jacket, and Clary held the rest of the cards her mother painted. Alec eyed the baby shoes, the lock of fair hair in the chest. “Are you bringing the rest of it?”

“Yeah, I better,” Clary said. “Mom put such effort in keeping it well hidden, seems wrong to leave it behind.”

“Your baby shoes?”

“I think so, they must be,” Clary said picking them up, and studying the supple leather.

Alec crouched down beside her, and reached for them. She let him take them and he turned them over in his hand. No brand labeled inside, no size etched into the bottom, finely made, and decorative. “These were made in Idris.”

“How can you possibly know that?”

“They’re just like my baby shoes, and Izzy’s, and Max’s. They’ve been made in that exact same way for hundreds of years. No machinery can run in Idris, the demon towers are made of pure adamas-“ when Clary looked confused, he sighed. “The same stuff our Seraph blades are made of.”

“Oh,” she said, looking a little embarrassed.

He sighed and decided to take it easy on her. “Anyway, for some reason, any mundane technology taken there kind of… explodes?”

Her eyes widened in alarm. “Explodes!”

“Just a little. Things short-circuit. No phones, no electricity, no machines,” he said holding up the shoe. “Everything is made by hand. Mundanes just don’t do it that way anymore.” He paused, turning the white leather over in his hand. “Your mother ran while she was pregnant with you, right?”

“Yeah, with what Jace told me about the uprising and everything, and factoring in my date of birth, she definitely ran before I was born.” She cocked her head to the side. “Why?”

Alec frowned and looked at the shoe again. “Nothing.”

“Alec,” Jace crouched down with them, one hand on Alec’s shoulder, the other on Clary’s. “What is it?”

He glanced over at the two. “It’s too big.”

“What?” Clary raised a brow.

“The shoe. It’s too big for an infant.” His eyes shifted from Jace to Clary. “If she brought this with her when she left Idris, if she brought it for you, she would have a smaller shoe. This is for a toddler… and it would have to have significant meaning if she risked bringing something while running away.”

Clary gently took the shoe back, and looked down at the lock of blond hair. “She said the shoes were mine. And that the lock of hair was my fathers.”

“Valentine has white hair,” Jace said. “Not blonde. It’s odd, I know, but it’s always been white. There are old photographs of him, every stage of his life. I’m telling you,” he pointed to the lock of hair, “that’s not Valentine’s.”

“Do you… do you think she had another child?” Clary whispered.

“Hodge was in the Circle,” Alec said. “So was Mom and Dad. One of them has to know something.”

Jace groaned. “The Circle days, their favourite topic.”

“I’ll talk to Mom,” Alec said. “Hodge’s punishment rune will act up if he tries to talk about it, and Dad is still in Idris.”

Clary’s face got soft as she looked at him hopefully. “You… you’d do that for me?”

Oddly, here with Clary and Jace, he felt a little more connected with the redhead. Maybe it was the proximity of Jace, and their bonds all firing back and forth. Maybe she just wasn’t as bad now that he’d gotten over the initial shock of Jace’s time being more divided, and actually saw her as a person.

“Yeah. I will,” Alec promised. “Now, come on, we need to get that card somewhere safe.”

 ::

Alec didn’t have the chance to ask about Clary’s mother, and the potential of another child. Not when Forsaken attacked the Institute, and managed to get through the wards. Alec sat as still as possible on the Infirmary bed while Isabelle inspected the damage to his arm from the Forsaken’s mace.

Jace winced as he came in. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better,” Alec grimaced as Isabelle poked her finger at it. “Stop that.”

“I’m going to have to put some stitches in, the skin is too far apart, it’ll take far too long for an Iratze alone,” Isabelle pulled off the gloves, tossing them into the bin. “I’ll get the supplies.” She stopped by Jace, putting a hand on his arm. “Do what you can.”

“Yeah,” Jace came forward, his Stele twirling around his fingers. “Let’s heal this up a bit.”

The doors slammed open, and Maryse stopped at the foot of the bed. She looked him over, and sighed. “Alec.” Her eyes went to the wound. “What happened?”

“A Forsaken attacked, stronger, more resilient than most. Hodge was fighting it when I came in, I shot it, but,” Alec shook his head. “It… didn’t even seem to notice.” Forsaken were usually easy to dispose of, and he couldn’t figure out why this one hadn’t died earlier. “Hodge snapped its neck; that worked.”

Maryse crossed her arms. “This must be Magnus’s work.”

Alec sat up straighter. “No. Magnus put up the wards.”

“Which is why it would be easy for the Forsaken to have gotten in,” Maryse said, as if he were an idiotic child. “He could have temporarily taken down the wards, besides, a Warlock would have also been able to enhance a Forsaken.”

Jace chose that moment to start drawing the Iratze. Alec hissed out a breath, and saw Isabelle returning with a cart of supplies. “Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Alec said. “Let Isabelle run some tests. Blaming Magnus, and being wrong about it would potentially ruin what’s left of Downworld relations. The Accords are due to be signed soon, and we can’t fight a war on all sides. Let’s just take the time to be sure.”

Maryse eyed him for a long while, then smiled. “When did you get to be so wise?”

Alec frowned. He’d jumped to conclusions when it came to Magnus already, and he regretted it. No need to make the same mistake twice.

::

“Alec, Alec! Wake up!” Jace’s voice came through the fog of sleep, and his incessant pushing cause Alec to shove his Parabatai back.

“Cut it out,” Alec muttered, cracking just one eye open to glare at Jace. It was super ineffective.

“The Cup is gone.” Alec sat up so fast the world spun for a second, and his heart hammered like he’d just activated a Stamina rune. “So is Hodge.”

“What?”

“The Cup is-“

“No I heard you, I just…” Alec pushed his hands through his hair, hissing as the movement caused the wound in his arm to pull against the stitches. “Hodge took the cup?” The betrayal hurt. He'd trained under Hodge for most of his life. To think that the man would turn against them threw him reeling. Anger had his hands balled into fists. 

“Yeah, we have it on camera, not only Hodge fighting the Forsaken, but stealing a ring, and after you were taken to the Infirmary, he used that magic ring to talk to, drum roll, please,” he patted his own thighs in poor imitation of drums. “Valentine.”

The air rushed out of Alec’s lungs, and it took him a moment to recover. “So we know for sure now, Valentine is alive.”

“Yeah, we also know for sure that Jocelyn is with him based on what we gathered from the audio of their conversation. She’s unconscious- apparently she took some kind of potion to put herself to sleep.” 

Alec flopped back down, and stared up at the ceiling. “Did Isabelle finish the autopsy?”

“Yeah. The Forsaken, its blood work is nuts; traces of Nephilim blood.”

“That’s why it could get through the wards.” The sheets on him were too warm for his overheating body. His mind raced with the implications. Who would be mad enough to experiment in such a way? Valentine, that’s who. Valentine who once started an uprising, and slaughtered innocent Downworlders. Valentine who turned Shadowhunter against Shadowhunter. “We have to stop him, Jace.”

“Yeah, we do,” Jace pulled his Stele out. “Let me refresh your runes, and then get dressed. We have a long day ahead of us.”

::

Jace wasn’t wrong. Alec trudged along, he needed the Iratze rune to heal the wound on his shoulder, until then, he wouldn’t be able to use his bow, however that particular rune demanded energy, and was rather draining, his Stamina rune having long run out, appearing as nothing more than a faded scar.

They patrolled, but found nothing.

Isabelle checked the time on her phone. “We were off duty forty minutes ago.”

“We haven’t found anything,” Clary said crossing her arms. “There must be something.”

“Burning ourselves out isn’t going to help us find Valentine,” Alec said his hand on the hilt of his sword. “It’s only going to make us weak when we finally do.”  

“As much as I hate to admit it, we need to call it a night,” Jace said. “Drinks at the Hunter’s Moon? First round on me?”

Isabelle, who’d looked like she was about to decline, suddenly peeked up. “Maybe one drink.”

“I’m in,” Clary said with a sigh.

They all turned to look at Alec. “No,” he rubbed around the edges of his bandaged arm. “I’m going to get some sleep.”

“You okay to walk home alone?” Clary asked, and suddenly they all turned to look at her. She shrugged at the sudden attention. “What? This isn’t the best neighbourhood.”

“I’m a twenty-three year old Shadowhunter,” Alec said dry as ever. “I think I can manage to walk home by myself.”

“He dresses like he’s homeless,” Isabelle said in jest. “He’s not going to be a target of a mugging.”

Alec looked down at himself. “What are you talking about? I dress fine.”

Isabelle’s dark eyes raked him over from head, to toe, and back up. She tutted and shook her head. “One day, I’m going to throw out all your holey sweaters and put some colour in your wardrobe.”

“The Hell you are,” he muttered. He poked his thumb through the hole of the cuff of his sweater. “My sweaters are comfortable, thank you very much.”

“They’re falling apart is what they are,” Isabelle replied with a hand on her hip.

Alec scoffed. “Are not.”

“Are too.”

“Children, stop bickering,” Jace chimed in.

“By the Angel, Jace is being the responsible one,” Isabelle said, her hand flying to her open mouth in mock-shock.

“He’s clearly been replaced by a Changeling. It’s the only explanation,” Alec said mockingly.

Jace glared, his playful smirk still in place. “I’m marginally insulted.”

Clary looped her arm with Jace’s. “Drinks?” she asked, refocussing them.

“Yeah,” Jace replied, smiling down at her. “Last chance, Alec.”

Alec just turned on the heel of his boot. “Goodnight.”

After a chime of goodnights, he heard their voices and laughter fade as they walked in opposite directions. 


	12. Chapter 12

_**Once you know something, you can’t get rid of it. You have to carry it. Always. -** _ **Samantha Shannon (The Bone Season)**

While Alec had noticed his father’s absence lately, he had believed the usual excuses. Work, duty, council, Idris. When he found his mother crying in her office, the truth settled under his skin. Without a word, he stepped in, and shut the door. She stared at him, horrified, and her fingers swiped at the tears. “Alec.”

“It’s Dad, isn’t it?” he said, putting all the pieces together. Their fights, the distance in their stances, the way one was often in Idris, while the other was in New York.  That time he saw his father standing a little too close to another woman to be friendly in the back halls. He thought of soulmates, the words on his father that his mother hadn’t said. “Is he cheating on you?”

His mother’s gasp, and followed by a trembling lower lip that she bit. She nodded.

He shut his eyes. “Mom,” he walked to her, and she stood. They embraced for a long time. She sobbed against his shoulder, and he soothed her the best he could. Anger boiled hot in his blood. “How could he do this?” Alec whispered.

“He met his soulmate,” Maryse whispered, choking on a sob. “And she is his.”

“But his words on your skin… don’t they count for something?” Alec held her tighter. “He’s _your_ soulmate.”   

“He’s leaving me, Alec. I intended on telling you and your siblings tonight.” She pulled back, and clearly fought her emotions under control. “I wanted to be calm in all of this.”

“You don’t have to be calm-“

“You, and Isabelle, and Jace are older, but Max still needs me,” she sighed. “He’s going to be the one this hits the hardest.” She sat down in her chair, and he took a seat across from her. “I always knew this was a possibility.”

They were both quiet, Maryse upset and trying not to show it, Alec still reeling from the news.

“Do you regret it?” he asked, his voice nothing more than a whisper.

“Regret what?”

“Being with him. Marrying him. You knew that he might find his ‘soulmate’ one day.” Alec’s thumb ran along his arm guard. “Do you regret it?”

“No.” Maryse stood, rounded the desk, and crouched before her eldest son, taking his face in her hands. “I don’t regret a moment with Robert. With him, I had you, and Isabelle, and Max. Together we raised you three, and Jace. I loved him, but all things…” she paused, trying to tame the waver in her voice. “All things come to an end. Some earlier than others. Some earlier than we’d like.”  She stood, and cupped his cheek fondly. “Maybe this is why he was my soulmate. So I could have my perfect babies.” She smiled and kissed his forehead. “I love you, Alec.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

:::

“Hey, Alec,” Jace jogged up to him in his training gear, while Alec looked up from his tablet where he’d been looking at the updated demon logs. “Have you had a chance to talk to Maryse about the shoes?” he asked, glancing around at the busy room and then wiggling his eyebrows.

It took Alec a moment to remember the toddler shoes they’d found in Jocelyn’s box. “No. Not about shoes,” he said, setting his tablet down on a desk, he nodded his head in the direction of the laundry rooms and Jace followed. There were a few washers, not really enough for a building full of people who constantly had to deal with battling demons. However, Shadowhunters were excellent at getting out dirt, grass stains, and blood from their clothes… although in a lot of cases, it was just easier to replace them.

“What’s up?” Jace asked once they shut the door to the otherwise empty room.

Alec ran a hand through his hair, wondering how to break the news. He still had time to play it off, let their mother handle it. Anxiety ratchetted, and he could feel concern ripple through their bond in response.

Jace grabbed his shoulder. “Alec?”

“I don’t know how to tell you this,” Alec muttered. Robert had been Jace’s father since the age of ten, and with what Alec knew of Jace’s father, Michael Wayland, Robert must have seemed like a saint. It hurt to know that he would shatter the fatherly figure for Jace in the same way that his mother had done to him. No, that was wrong. It had been Robert’s choice, he’d done this to them all. “Dad cheated on Mom.”

“What?” Jace’s hand tightened, then fell away. “H-how do you know that?”

“Mom told me,” Alec said, leaning his back against the washer. “He… he found his soulmate,” he choked over the word. “And… and now he’s with her, been with her a while, I guess- especially since he’s been spending more and more time in ‘meetings’ in Idris. Mom planned on telling you, and Iz, and Max tonight at dinner.”

“That bastard,” Jace snarled. “How could he?”

“It’s his soulmate,” Alec shrugged. “What would you do if you were with someone when you met Clary?”

“That’s different. At least I would have the decency to break up with this hypothetical other woman before Clary,” Jace muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. “And I don’t have hypothetical children.”  He was still a little flushed from training, but his ears being red came purely from anger. “I can’t believe it.” He shook his head. “He has kids.”

“We don’t stop being his kids just because he isn’t with Mom,” Alec said. It hurt to rationalize what his father had done, and the repercussions of it. But he had to. He had to be the mature one. He had to be the shoulder for his mother, and the backbone of the Institute while she was away. He needed to be there for his younger siblings, and damn it, he needed his platonic soulmate to help him. “It still hurts though,” he whispered.

Jace looked up at that, he sighed, and pulled Alec into a strong hug. Alec burrowed his face into Jace’s neck, not caring if his parabatai was still sweaty. A little broken sob escaped, and he held tighter, Jace’s arms tightening too. “I’ve got you,” Jace said. He was steady despite the storm.

“I’m so… disappointed, and angry,” Alec hissed.

“I know. Me too.”

“Is it inevitable?”

“What?”

Alec pulled back and angrily wiped away his tears. “The mark. Is that soulmate mark inevitable? If you meet them does it just keep pulling you in until you’re stuck? Could you leave Clary?”

“I wouldn’t want to-“ Jace said before his face fell. “I don’t mean- I- dammit. What Robert did was shitty. He had a choice, Alec. He had a choice when he and Maryse first got together. He had a choice now. Just because the words are there, they don’t mean you _have_ to be with them. You know that.”

“What about Mom? Did she have a choice?” He questioned quietly, even though he knew Jace wouldn’t have an answer. They were quiet for a long moment, nothing but the hum of the vents.  “I hate those marks,” Alec said, his voice so soft he wasn’t sure if Jace would hear him.

“They aren’t all bad,” Jace whispered.

Alec considered Jace’s words after the disastrous dinner of Isabelle storming off, and Max being almost too understanding. Robert felt the pull for this mysterious woman, they bore each other’s marks. His mother had the first words Robert had ever spoken to her on her ankle. She’d feel the ache of that missing piece.

Like he felt the ache in the middle of the night while he tried to sleep. His body trying to tell him, _‘you’ve met him, be with him.’_ Alec rubbed the bridge of his nose. It wasn’t fair. The entire soulmate business was a cruelty.

The words might be permanent, but eventually the ache would subside. He’d avoid Magnus Bane, and do his best to forget it all.

::

Alec walked out of his ensuite, a towel wrapped around his hips, to find his father standing at his dresser, looking at one of his framed family photographs. He couldn’t control his hostility. “What are you doing here?”

Robert looked up, glanced over Alec. “Am I not allowed to see my son now?”

“Uh,” Alec gestured to himself. “I’m just glad I came out in a towel,” he said, unable to keep the frost from his voice. “Can you give me a minute?”

Robert stared for a moment before nodding. His father left, shutting the door behind himself. Alec dressed in record time, tossed his towel over the bathroom door, then paced- not ready to face his father. What could he possibly say _, ‘sorry, she’s my soulmate,_ ’ it wasn’t an excuse! He reached for the door, ready to pull it open and give his father a piece of his mind, only to see the glittery cursive.

_Shit. Fuck. Shit!_

He rushed to his night table, and pressed the armguard to his skin. That’s why his father had paused so long before going to the door. He’d seen his soulmate mark. Fingers shook while they tried to get the buckles done up, but he finally managed.

He walked back to the door, took a deep breath, and opened it. His father stepped in, and Alec shut the door again.

“I didn’t think you had a mark,” Robert said. Alec grit his teeth. “What does it say?”

The gold glitter against his pale skin would make it difficult to see the words clearly at a distance. Alec’s shoulders sagged a little with the relief. “That’s none of your business.”

“Alec-“

“Aren’t you here to talk about _your_ soulmate?” Alec said, unable to keep his anger in check. It boiled at the thought of his mother crying alone in her office. “The one you’ve been sleeping with for months-“

“Is that what your mother told you?” Robert snarled.

“No, not like that, but news travels. Even from Idris.” Alec crossed his arms over his chest. “What? Did you expect to hide it from us? Have both your soulmate, and mom on the side.”

“Alec, please-“

“Please what?” Alec threw his arms in the air. “Mom loved you-“

“Things have been strained between me and Maryse for years.”

“So… so that just means you end it? She isn’t worth fighting for?”

Robert crossed his arms. “That isn’t what I’m saying. You’re not giving me a chance to explain myself.”

“Because you don’t deserve it,” Alec snapped, his earlier rational gone out the window. “You chose _her_ over us, your family. How could you?” He hated the way his eyes watered. “Just go!” He took a step back in desperate need for space.

“I’m not leaving things like this between us,” Robert said. “When you meet your soulmate, you’ll understand.”

It felt like a punch, the air left his lungs in a rush. Not thinking it all the way through, he yanked at the buckles until they came undone, the guard falling to the floor. He held out his arm, and then took a step closer, then another until his father was sure to see the words clearly.

He watched his father’s face, saw the confusion, eyes narrowing at the glittering marks, his mouth opening into a little ‘o’ and sadness swept over his features when he read them.

_You look pretty worthless to me._

“From this, I expected my soulmate to see me as worthless,” Alec said, struggling to hold it together. “But I didn’t expected from you.”

“Alec, no, no, don’t think like that.” He grabbed Alec’s arm even as he tried to pull away. His father had always been a strong man, and Alec was too distraught to put up a decent fight. He was tugged into his father’s embrace, and desperate for some sense of comfort in it all he held on tight. “I’m sorry. You’re my son. I love you, Kid. No matter what is going on with me and your mom, we will both always love you, and your siblings. Besides, you don’t have context for your mark. Sometimes they surprise you.”

Alec couldn’t think of a way it could possibly be misconstrued. “No,” Alec whispered, admitting it for the first time. “They said it to me.”

“You… you met her?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Alec said. “These marks, they’re not fair.” Alec thought of his mother, her heart longing for what didn’t long for her in return. He thought of his own situation, of the words on his forearm.

“I know,” Robert said. He squeezed a little too tight, but Alec didn’t complain.

“Dad?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t tell anyone. About my mark, or about me knowing who it is. Don’t tell.”

Robert took a deep breath. “Does Maryse know?”

“No.”

“That person,” Robert said, pulling back to grab Alec’s forearm, big hands covering the words. “She doesn’t deserve you.”

_She._

He wondered what would bother his father more; the words on his skin, or the fact that his romantic soulmate was definitely a man.

“Because you were with Mom… I believed that maybe the mark on my arm didn’t have to be true. I didn’t ha-have-“ 

“Breathe,” Robert commanded, his voice strong with the order.

“I thought I might have a choice. I thought maybe the words on my arm wouldn’t pull me to someone who’d never love me. ” Alec shook his head, but sucked in a breath. “I _hate_ it.” He took deep breath. “You met that _woman,_ ” he spat the word with contempt. “And you’re leaving for her. None of us mattered anymore-“

“You matter. You and Isabelle, and Max, and Jace, you all matter. Maryse still matters. We don’t love each other the way we used to, but she is still the mother of my children, we have had years together, I still respect her, in a way I still love her… just… just not like that. Not anymore.”

“But it’s that mark, that fucking mark,” he hissed pointing at his father’s wrist, covered by his sweater. “And now you’re leaving-“

Heavy hands on his shoulders grounded him. “We are still a family.”

“Is it fate?” Alec whispered, a little afraid of the answer. “Do we get a choice?” He pulled back. “Is this what I get to look forward to?” he pointed to his own forearm. “To be with someone who sees me as worthless?”

“We all have a choice.”

“And you chose her.”

Robert’s face crumpled. “Alec.”

“I want to be alone.”

Robert nodded. “I never meant to hurt any of you.”

“But you did.”

“I know.”

It must have become clear that Alec wouldn’t say anything more, and Robert walked out the door. Alec stood in the middle of his room for a few minutes before sitting on the floor. He pulled out his stele, and held it over the mark, pressing it hard against the skin. It burned into the skin, but since he wasn’t drawing a rune, and instead continued down in a slow line, the skin turned an angry red obscuring the top part of ‘look’ before the door opened.

“I saw Robert come out, what did he- ALEC!” Jace snapped, he rushed over, tackled Alec right to the ground, knocking the stele out of hand, and it slid across the hardwood floor. “What in the Angel’s name!” he grabbed Alec’s arm, and pulled it close for inspection, the glittering words were already starting to peek through the lightly burned skin. “You idiot.” Jace pulled out his own stele, and drew a small Iratze above the inflamed skin, it turned black and the burn began accelerated healing. “What is this about?”

“Get off me!” Alec finally said, now that he had air back in his lungs. “I don’t want it!”

“Well, tough!” Jace snapped. Finding the discarded guard, he slapped the leather against Alec’s skin, and started to do the buckles. “It’s there. I know you hate it, but it isn’t going anywhere, and you know it. There is literally nothing you can do about it.”

They sat on the floor slightly grumpy with one another. “Dad saw it.”

“And?”

“He says, _she_ doesn’t deserve me.”

“Are you going to tell them?” For a minute, he thought Jace actually remembered that night in the hall with the blinding clarity that Alec did- that Jace had picked up on Magnus’s words. “That you’re gay?”

“No.”

Jace’s sigh told Alec what he thought of the answer.

“You and Robert okay now though? He seemed sad when he left.”

“I don’t know,” Alec admitted. “Did he say anything to you?”

“I tucked into the janitorial closet before he saw me.” Jace considered it a moment. “Or if he saw me do it, he let me get away with it.”

Alec stood, and moved toward his closet. “I’m going to go out for a bit. Clear my head.”

Jace understood that Alec needed time alone, and patted his shoulder. “Whatever you need.”

“Thanks.”


	13. Chapter 13

**_We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. -_ ** **J.K. Rowling**

 

The trees shaded the run, but didn’t do much about the unseasonably warm weather. The running helped, to clear his mind. The sounds of birds and his own feet crunching the gravel underfoot created the soundtrack. He never wore headphones out on runs, he valued his senses too much to risk listening to music. He’d personally ticked off some Downworlders in the past, bringing them in on their offences to be tried by the Clave. In some cases, just being a Shadowhunter would be enough to bring retaliation- even if he’d never done anything to them personally. Not to mention the demons, although in the sunlight- which most demons were sensitive to- he felt pretty well protected. Shadowhunters were taught from a young age to always be vigilant, and Alec took it seriously.

So when he heard something off, he slowed to a stop, gravel bunching under his toes. The birds still chirped, a gust of wind rustled the leaves. He pulled his stele out of the pocket of his track-pants to draw an awareness rune on his inner wrist. He closed his eyes and focused. The sound of traffic further away became loud, he ignored it, that hadn’t been the sound to stop his run. A creature scurried up the tree, little nails digging into the bark. No, that hadn’t been it either. A stuttered breath, and a groan. There, that.

He turned in the direction the sound came from, pushing through the underbrush well off the path. He paused again, redirecting himself, following the pained breaths, and little cries getting louder.  A thorn bush caught the fabric of his pants, and he twisted away from it.

There. His awareness rune thrummed with power as his eyesight cleared up what should still be too far, too blurry. A small body. A blue hoodie covering the child’s face, a pair of jeans, and tattered tennis shoes. He deactivated the awareness rune, and drew a glamour for his runes, not wanting to scare the child. A mundane child, perhaps, lost, scared, and hurt.

He ran through the grass, over the patches of old dead leaves, this part of the park left to the wildlife. And apparently lost children. His toe hit a rock, but he maintained his balance. Getting to the child, he knelt down and the child backed up quick, screaming out in pain, holding its stomach.

“It’s okay!” Alec said. “I’m going to help you.”

The head tilted back, the hood still covering the top of the child’s head, but its face- covered in black scales, blue eyes stared in horror. “No, no. It’s makeup.”

The little boy said, and Alec understood- showing the Shadow World to a mundane would be very bad indeed. “It’s okay. You’re a warlock. I know.”

The boy sagged. “You’re a warlock too?”

Alec didn’t answer. “You’re hurt. Where?”

“Here,” the boy lifted his shirt, and pointed. His scales were oozing around a stinger. There were many demons that had stingers, but Alec recognized the shape and colour, and knew what kind this was. He also knew he didn’t have the power to help. At least, not personally.

“Okay,” Alec said softly, trying not to spook the child. “I can’t fix this, but I know who can. I’ll need to carry you, okay?”

“Is it going to hurt?”

“Me carrying you? Yeah, probably,” Alec said. “I’ll try not to jostle you too much, but we need to be quick.”

The child sniffled, then nodded. “Help me, please.”

“I will.” Alec shifted carefully, picking the boy up, cradling him to his chest, keeping the wound on the opposite side so it wouldn’t brush against his chest with the movement. “What’s your name?” he asked as he started to rush them out of the woods.

“Ezekiel,” the boy replied.

“I’m Alec, and we’re going to see the High Warlock, and he’s going to help you.”

“You know the High Warlock?” Ezekiel looked surprised. “I heard he’s really powerful, and likes glitter.”

“I’m sure about the first, and pretty sure on the second,” Alec said.

Ezekiel cried out as they reached the trail. “It hurts.”

“I know,” Alec said softly. With a mental push he gave new purpose to the glamour rune on hidden on his skin, and it shielded them both from the views of any mundanes they might run into.

“Feels… feels like there is something crawling under my skin,” Ezekiel sobbed. “I’m scared.”

Alec’s jaw tightened, he was running out of time to save the boy. They had a bit of luck on their side though, Magnus lived not five minutes away from the park. And it most certainly wasn’t why Alec had chosen to run there. It wasn’t.

By the time they reached the sidewalk outside of the park, the boy in his arms trembled. His pained moans and little cries were breaking Alec’s heart. “We’re almost there, just stay with me.” He jogged up the stairs earning more cries, but knowing their window of opportunity was closing. He kicked open the lobby door and rushed to the elevator, luckily already on their floor. He pressed the button for the top floor and waited. “Ezekiel? We’re almost there, almost there. A few more floors.”

“Alec?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you a Seelie? Are you tricking me?”

“I’m not a Seelie,” he said. In a way, he was tricking the child, hiding his runes. Lying by omission. The elevator dinged and the door opened. He rushed down the hall, and kicked at Magnus’s door. “Magnus, please, open the door!”

“The hell I will,” Magnus shouted, he sounded far away. “I remember the last time you came into my home!” he sounded closer now. “Being _nice_ once doesn’t erase what you did!”

“A warlock child needs your help, please!”

The door opened immediately. Magnus stood there, his jaw dropping, Catarina, and a tall man with horns stood behind him.

“He’s running out of time,” Alec hissed. “Can you help him?”

“Yes, yes, bring him in.” Magnus ushered them in, and Caterina conjured a bed in the middle of the living room, the other warlock pushing the other furniture against the walls in one push of magic. “What’s your name?” He asked, leaning closer to see the boy.

The child turned away from the High Warlock, and whimpered, his fingers digging into the t-shirt Alec wore. “It’s okay,” Alec said. “This is High Warlock Magnus Bane, I told you about him, Ezekiel. He’s going to help you. You don’t need to be scared.”

Ezekiel turned his head toward Magnus, blue eyes filling with tears. “I have bugs in my tummy.”

“Shax,” was all Alec said. He didn’t want to scare the boy by saying ‘demon.’ Magnus nodded, understanding the stakes. He walked around Magnus and laid the boy down on the bed.

“So, your name is Ezekiel, right?” Catarina asked. Her glamour came down to display her blue skin. “We, Magnus, Ragnor and myself, we are going to help you, okay?”

“And Alec,” the boy said. “I think he’s a Werewolf.”

“Werewolves can’t do magic, my boy,” Ragnor said kindly.

“But he did help,” Catarina said, her voice soft, fingers waving over the boys face. “You’re going to sleep now, and when you wake up, there will be no more bugs in your tummy, okay?”

“Okay,” Ezekiel said, blinking slow, and then his eyes shut and didn’t open.

Catarina was calm one second, and spitting mad the next. “Unbelievable!” She glared at Alec. “You always seem to be in the middle of things these days.”

“Well, good thing for that boy, or he’d be dead in the woods,” Alec snapped back. “Now do something.”

“You think you can boss me around, Shadowhunter?” Catarina shouted, her magic swirling to her fingers.

“Enough!” Magnus snarled. “We need to work together. We’re running out of time.”

“He could feel things moving inside of him,” Alec said, a sick sense of dread in his gut. “Are we already too late?”

“No. No, not yet,” Magnus said, rushing to a wall of jars, he grabbed things, handing them over to Ragnor. “We’re missing something.”

Catarina looked over the ingredients that Ragnor set down on the bar. “The pure element.”

“Damn it,” Ragnor whispered.

“What is it?” Alec asked.

“Pure elements are things like… rainwater, or quartz crystals.”

“Easy to obtain,” Alec said.

Magnus huffed out a breath. “But think of them with a rank. Quartz being a one, rainwater being a two-“

“So?”

“We need like a forty! There are very few things that are that pure…” Magnus’s tirade slowed to a stop as he stared up at Alec. “Shadowhunter blood.”

Catarina snorted. “He’s not going to give it to you. Maybe we can go to the Alps and get some-

“Do you still have some of Jace’s?” Alec asked, cutting Catarina off.

“No, used it all on that spell when I asked Jace for it.” Magnus toyed with one of his rings. “Keeping Shadowhunter blood is a big Clave no-no. Even using it in magic is considered illegal, I’m not going to be keeping it laying around.”

“Right. Well, how much do you need then?”

Magnus pulled a large vial. “About this much.”

Alec reached down, and pulled up the bottom of his trackpants to reveal an ankle holster, he pulled the dagger out, and cut his wrist. Magnus let out a gasp, but held the vial still as Alec tried to bleed into the opening. Being from a major artery, the vial filled quickly, some of it had missed, and spilled over Magnus’s fingers.

“That’s enough,” Magnus said, and Alec dropped the dagger on the bar, to free his hand. With his Stele, he drew the Iratze close to the wound and it slowly started to fuse together, he was still bleeding too much.

Magnus’s fingertip touched the edge of the wound, blue fire danced along the wound fusing it shut, but not healing it in its entirety, blood still clung to his skin. “It won’t do to have you bleeding out in my home,” he said with indifference.  “The Clave would be intolerable.”

“Thanks,” Alec said anyway. He nodded his head toward the boy. “What now?”

Catarina and Ragnor had been busy, crushing certain ingredients, measuring others, getting the cauldron over a magical green flame. Magnus poured the blood into the mix. The herbs smelled wonderful, and the potion a little like lemons and sage.

The mixture was thick, and red. “Get his shirt off.” Magnus ordered, and Ragnor managed with a flick of his wrist, the punctured hoodie now laid on the sofa against the wall. Magnus drew some sort of sigil on the boys’ chest, then ripped his own shirt open, drawing the sigil backwards on his own chest. “It’s a powerful spell.”

“We know,” Ragnor stood to Magnus’s right, and held out a hand. “We will help.”

Catarina stood on Magnus’s other side, and held out her hand as well. “Syphon from me as well.”

Magnus stared at Alec. “What about you?”

Catarina rolled her eyes. “Blood is one thing, energy-“

 “I’m in,” Alec stood beside Catarina, and held his hand out to her, and to Ragnor, to join the circle.

“Do not break the circle,” Magnus warned him. “We break the circle, we start over, and we might not have the time, energy, or the resources to do so.”

“I won’t,” Alec said, tightening his grip.

“Both Ragnor and I will be casting, it works better with two,” Magnus explained. “You might feel a pull from either or both sides. Everyone must be standing at the end. Everyone must be conscious. If you feel light of the head, speak up. We break, so does the spell, and those little demons inside him will kill him.”

“We’re running out of time,” Catarina said.

Alec felt the pull immediately, his energy shifting, being pulled, a strange sensation that left his skin tingling. Magnus and Ragnor chanted, hands hovering over the stinger, and the oozing scales that appeared infected.

It seemed to go on forever. He felt the pull, but still energized. The sigil glowed on the boy, and then on Magnus, the sigil alight with Magnus’s blue flames. Catarina swayed, and it got everyone’s attention, even though Magnus and Ragnor were still busy.

“Pull from me,” Alec demanded of her. While he was supposed to support Ragnor’s side, he could also help her. Both he and Catarina had to be enough to support Magnus. “I’m okay,” he said when she looked at him doubtful. He felt the pull from both sides, and held tight.

He wouldn’t let those demons hatch. He wouldn’t let Ezekiel die in agony. He was a Shadowhunter, he’d sworn an oath. Death to demons, protection to the Shadow World, and the Mundanes. 

The pull started to hurt, too much, too much. They all showed signs of pain in their pinched faces.

A little longer.

Just a little longer.

His Endurance rune gave out. Stamina faded shortly after.  

Both Magnus and Ragnor fell quiet, their magic ceased. The stinger was gone, and so was the oozing mess. The black scales, Ezekiel’s warlock mark, were shining, and healthy. Or so Alec thought, he couldn’t be sure how those scales were supposed to look.

Magnus let go of Catarina’s hand, and braced both hands on the mattress to either side of Ezekiel’s head. A surprised little laugh escaped him. “We did it.”

Ragnor let out a sigh, his hand leaving Alec’s. Alec tightened on Catarina’s when she pitched backward, he moved a little sluggishly, but managed to keep her from hitting her head, even though his knees hit the floor, and her body had fallen a little awkwardly.

“Is she… okay?” Alec asked, looking to the other two warlocks who’d hurried to her side.

“Fine, just exhausted,” Ragnor said, sitting down near her. “Can’t blame her.” Alec, for the first time realized that Catarina was wearing nurse’s scrubs.

“How are you feeling?” Magnus asked, his hand on Alec’s shoulder.

More tired than he’d ever felt in his life. “Tired.” He pulled out his Stele, but it blurred in his vision. He traced over his faded stamina rune, his fingers were shaking so bad with his exhaustion that he wasn’t sure the lines were correct enough to activate.  Things cleared up a little right as his phone started to ring. He pulled it out, saw it was Jace, and answered. “Yeah?” He was needed on a hunt. Right away. Rogue Seelie kidnapping a human child. “Text me the address. Got a spare weapon?” Jace had the forethought of bringing both a Seraph blade, and his bow and quiver. “Be there soon.” 

Magnus raised an inquisitive brow, as Alec struggled a little to get to his feet. He was fine once the wave of dizziness left. “You need rest,” Magnus said, a little guarded, but not unkindly.

“I’ll be fine,” Alec said. “I have to go.” He paused at the doorway of the living room, and looked back. “Could you… let me know how he is when he wakes?”

Magnus looked to the boy, then back to Alec. “Yes. I’ll send you a fire message.”

Alec nodded. “Thank you.” He said, turning back for the door.

“You saved a young Warlock tonight,” Magnus said, making Alec pause in his step. “It’s I, who should be thanking you.”

Alec could feel the tips of his ears burning, and didn’t dare look back at Magnus. “It’s my job.” And he left, rushing from the building, and checking his texts for the address.

Despite Magnus’s warning, and knowing his Stamina rune was the only thing keeping him upright, he got through the fight just fine. The mundane child was taken to the police station, because as it turned out, Clary’s practically a step-father worked there. Not only that, but he recognized the runes on her body-

Not Alec’s problem.

Clary’s life, none of his business, or concern.

Sleep, however.

Which is why Isabelle had to practically drag him out of the taxi he’d fallen asleep in on the way back to the Institute. He barely made it to the bed, face planting onto it, and right back into slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although I didn't intend on making this a series, I kind of added to it with Aline and Helen in another story Bracelets and Bra Straps. It can be read with Flawed Design, there will only be like 5 chapters, and I won't be updating it super fast because I need to make sure I don't give away bits of Flawed Design before it's finished.


	14. Chapter 14

**_Funny how the illusion of safety can make us careless._ -Christopher Moore (A Dirty Job)**

 

When Alec awoke, the scales of morality were back on his skin. He’d done something good, for the right reasons, with nothing to gain. A piece of paper had appeared at his side, a fire message that had burned there sometime during the night. He reached out, and grabbed the parchment, pulling it close enough to read.

_Mr. Lightwood,_

_He is doing well. He woke in the early morning hours. He’s asking about you. Should you choose to come and see him, do me the curtesy of a call first._

_I’m sure you can find my number._

_-M_

It didn’t surprise him, the way the letter was written. Magnus insured it was as vague as possible in the event it ended up in the wrong hands. He hadn’t even signed it. And ‘Mr. Lightwood’ could be either him or his father, arguably even Max. Of course, it took him all of two minutes on his tablet to find the number for the High Warlock. He checked the time to find himself in the middle of the afternoon. “What?” He sat up suddenly, the room spinning with the sudden movement and the lack of food. He’d never slept in so late in his life. The spell had really taken it out of him, the double use of his Stamina rune that kept him running through the hunt- thinking about it now, he was a little surprised he hadn’t slept longer.

He almost dialled, until Jace poked his head into the room. “Get dressed.”

“What’s going on?” Alec asked, kicking down the sheets as he felt the adrenaline run through their bond.

“I’ll explain, just get dressed.” Jace came in, and shut the door behind himself. He took to studying a map of New York on the wall to give Alec some semblance of privacy while he changed.  “Clary got a call this morning-“

Alec paused a half a second in pulling up his jeans, then they were up on his hips, and he was angrily fastening the button. Clary. It was always about Clary.

“Werewolves were attacked at the Jade Wolf. There were a few dead. A few more are missing,” Jace said. “The Alpha, Luke, he said that they were attacked by circle members.”

After tugging the shirt over his head, Alec grabbed his arm guard, and put it on. “Then let’s go get our weapons.”

::

One of the werewolves had grabbed a circle member’s necklace in the fight. The werewolf had ultimately died, the chain wrapped in its clawed fingers.  Jace and Alec used their parabatai tracking skills with the necklace to hunt down the surviving circle member. They would follow to the last place they saw, then track again, and again, and again.

Alec sighed. The sun started to set, and his feet dragged a little. Jace turned to him, and Alec knew what to do. Once again, he drew the rune on his hand, Jace doing the same with his own stele. Their hands clasped, and the necklace between them grew warm, then hot under the intensity of the search.

“They’re still in this neighbourhood,” Jace said, as they refocussed on the here and now.

“We should split up,” Isabelle said. “We have to cover more ground. Mom wanted us back by sundown if we hadn’t caught anyone.”

“We are so close though,” Clary said. “She’d understand.”

“No, she wouldn’t,” Alec argued. “She expects us to be obedient.”

“We have to find these guys,” Jace said passionately. “Who knows when we will get another chance? We don’t have a lot of time, and there is too much ground to cover. We have to split up.”

“Not entirely, take Clary with you,” Alec demanded. “She’s getting better, but not good enough.”

“Hey!” Clary frowned.

“He’s right,” Jace said, his voice soft. “It’s too dangerous. Especially for you.” _‘Since Valentine is your father,’_ went unsaid.

“We have maybe a half hour. Let’s move,” Isabelle said, twirling around in her seven inch pumps, and stalking off.

Alec turned the other way, and started hunting. Time ticked by, and he moved fast, but found nothing. The streets were empty this way. He dropped his guard, holding his bow loose in his hand. He hoped Jace and Clary, or Isabelle had better luck.

He was on his way back to the meeting point when a door opened, so quick, he barely had time to put his bow up to deflect the blade swinging at him. The bow snapped under the adamas. He reached for his sword, but his hand didn’t make it. Something hit the back of his head, the world tilted, then faded from view.

::

The next two days were a blur of pain, blood, and screaming himself hoarse. While the Circle had been ordered to retrieve Jace, they had instead found themselves against the tag-team duo of Jace and Clary, who- Alec discovered through bits of taunts, and conversation- had done something spectacular. Something to do with glowing runes?  In any case, the duo had killed their attackers, and the few circle members decided it was better to bring back one of the young Shadowhunters, than to return empty handed.

And Alec being Jace’s parabatai was the next best thing. Their parabatai bond, and the platonic bond tied them close. Alec could, without a tracking rune, find Jace if he focussed hard enough.  Valentine could use the Parabatai rune, could track Jace through Alec if the young Shadowhunter let his guard down long enough. He’d die first though. There was nothing Valentine could do to him that would make him give up his parabatai, his soulmate.

After those two painful days, Valentine frowned in front of him. “Loyalty, is a fine trait, but you gave it to the wrong side. Last chance, Lightwood.”

“Fuck you.”

Instead of delivering a killing blow, Valentine unhooked his shackled body from the hook that had kept him dangling. A mortal probably would have died already. Being a Shadowhunter kept him in the land of the prolonged suffering. The sudden sensation of the blood returning to his arms made him scream in agony before he bit down on his lip hard enough to leave it bloodied.

“We’ll see how you fair with the Downworlders,” Valentine said, grabbing him roughly by the shackles around his wrists, the sensation of pins and needles danced along his arms. “Maybe that will make you more agreeable.”

Confused, he was dragged through the damp basement. He only realized people had been talking when they stopped. The sudden silence allowed him to hear the dripping noise from a leak somewhere. There were cages all around the room. Most of them empty. A seelie sat curled into a ball in one, and Alec wasn’t sure if the small woman was even still alive. There was a large cell in the center. Alec could barely lift his head to see though.

“Get back!” One of Circle members shouted at them. The door screeched as it opened. Alec was unceremoniously thrown in. Still handcuffed. The cage slammed shut and locked.

“No killing him,” Valentine said. “But which ever one of you breaks him, gets their freedom. Have fun.” With that, the footsteps of Valentine and his henchmen retreated.

Someone stepped closer, Alec curled up, his body tensing for a blow he had no chance of deflecting in his state.

“Don’t,” the sharp order caused the man to pause in his step. “What are you?” The man’s voice was so familiar. “Valentine’s bitch?”

No.

It couldn’t be.

Alec uncurled enough, and looked over to see Magnus Bane, sitting in the cell.

The Downworlder turned to Magnus. “I want my freedom.”

“Oh, so you take Valentine at his word,” Magnus said, his voice monotonous with his dry sarcasm. “Then by all means. Do just what he says like a good puppy.”

“Watch it,” the man snarled, werewolf- if Magnus’s words were as directly insulting as Alec imagined they were meant to be.

“I might die here, but I won’t be used by Valentine to destroy the Downworld,” Magnus said, standing, slowly, and clearly favouring his right leg.

“So you’ll defend a Shadowhunter?”

“He’s one who actually does his job,” Magnus said, glancing at Alec. “He saved a young warlock.” Magnus raised a hand to silence the werewolf before he could argue- gone were his usual rings. “I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t been there myself. Besides, he must be a real thorn in Valentine’s side if he’s here, no?”

The werewolf huffed out a breath and stalked over to his corner of the cell, staring solemnly out the bars.

::

When the werewolf was asleep, Alec looked over at Magnus. He saw the man’s eyes. His real eyes.  His demon mark. They were beautiful, and it was hard not to stare. Apparently he wasn’t doing a good job. “I know,” Magnus said, staring right back at him with those flecks of yellow and gold, the slit pupil. “Quite demonic, right?”

Alec swallowed hard. Sure, they were demonic in origin, but they didn’t look demonic. They looked every bit as warm and friendly as his brown eyes did. “They’re beautiful,” he found himself saying, much to his own horror. He quickly looked away. “I mean, you know what they look like, stop fishing for compliments,” he muttered, unable to put any heat into it. He changed the subject before he died of mortification instead of succumbing to injuries. “How is your leg?”

“Took a kick to the knee when they came for me,” Magnus said, lips curved in amusement. “I can stand on it, walk on it. Might heal on its own in time.”

“Do you have any use of magic?”

“Why didn’t I think of magic, and I don’t know, heal my knee, portal out of here, glamour myself?” Magnus rolled his eyes, and tugged a little on the cuff of his long sleeved shirt. “No, no use of magic. There are runes on the walls that are supressing it.”

“Just in here?” Alec gestured to the cage.

“No, there’s just one here,” Magnus pointed at the far wall. “They’re stationed at the north, south, east, and west points of this building. Effectively keeping my powers locked inside of me.”

“We must be across water, I can barely feel Jace. It’s just enough to know he’s alive, and agitated.” _He won’t be able to find me. Valentine would have to take me back to shore to use a tracking rune. Odds of survival tricking him… low._

He looked over at Magnus, who was dressed in some fancy slacks, and a long sleeved shirt. Alec, who’d had a jacket confiscated when he’d arrived was left in his t-shirt, jeans, and socks. His armguard had been taken by Valentine. Alec pressed his wrist tighter to his abdomen, pulling the chains still around his wrist painfully. The taunting had been terrible. The tossing of his armguard, a gift from Jace, into the fire had been excruciating. Like losing a little piece of his parabatai.

“Valentine wants Jace.” He wasn’t even sure why he told Magnus. Desperation, perhaps. And maybe because, he couldn’t help but trust in the Warlock.

“Why?”

“Said Jace is one of his promising experiments.” Alec shivered. “Said he raised him.”

Magnus’s eyebrows rose. “I thought Jace was a Wayland.”

“That’s what Jace thinks. He also thinks his dad is dead. Which, I suppose isn’t wrong. But he also thought the man who raised him was his dad and…” Alec groaned, resting his forehead on his knees. “This is too complicated to deal with right now. We need to find a way out of here.”

“I’m sure there are easier ways to get Jace than to search for him through you,” Magnus said.

“I thought that too,” Alec said. “Plan A failed, the circle members couldn’t take Jace by force. So, Plan B I guess is kidnapping me.”

Magnus hummed. “Why doesn’t he just make sure Jace knows that he has you? That would make Jace come alone.”

“Well, there is no guarantee that he would come alone.” Alec chewed his bottom lip, trying to figure it out. He remembered what Jace once told him, spoken like he’d been trained to recite it. “To love is to destroy, and to be loved is to be the one destroyed.”

Magnus frowned. “Well, that’s grim.”

“If I let down my guard, let Valentine track Jace through me… Jace would see it as a complete betrayal.”

“So it isn’t entirely about getting Jace,” Magnus mused, fussing with a cufflink on his shirt. “It’s about breaking him, making him think he can’t trust you, the Clave… he wants Jace to return of free will.”

“I won’t let it happen.”

“If he keeps starving you out, you might not have the mental capacities to block him,” Magnus warned, his voice soft, full of compassion.

“I won’t let it happen,” Alec repeated, his hands balling into fists. _He wouldn’t._


	15. Chapter 15

**_It was easier to be brave when someone needed your protection_ ** **. -** **Robert Jordan**

 

Alec had a plan.

In theory it worked.

In practice, not so much.

The guards came for the werewolf, and shouted at Magnus and Alec to stand back. They followed the order, but the moment the door opened, Alec charged. He got the chain between his handcuffs around the one guard’s neck, and pulled as tight as he could. The werewolf- whom Alec had discovered through conversation with Magnus was actually the Alpha of the Manhattan pack- was taken out with an electric baton that left him seizing on the ground, and Magnus stayed back- unexpectedly not fighting at all.

While Alec hadn’t made his plan known, he figured his sudden attack would have gotten the werewolf and Magnus to attack with him. He’d been wrong. While he couldn’t be electrocuted by the second guard while holding onto the first, that didn’t stop him from pressing a blade to his shoulder, pressing hard enough to break skin. “Release him.”

Alec was pretty sure Valentine had given them orders to keep him alive- if for no other reason than his bond with Jace- but he couldn’t be sure the guards would listen. He released the guard, and no sooner was it done than he felt the voltage coursing through his system, muscles cramping painfully, every nerve lit up with pain. The baton left his skin, and he went limp on the floor. The guards tossed him unceremoniously back into the cell.

He could hear the werewolf being dragged out of the room, presumably unconscious. Alec slowly moved his fingers, then his toes, but remained laying prone on the cell floor.

“Are you alright?” Magnus asked quietly once the guards were out of earshot.

Slowly, Alec moved his limbs, then forced himself to sit up. “Good enough.” Everything hurt, but he wasn’t really any worse off than he had been before the attack.

“Good.” Magnus tossed an item, and it hit Alec’s leg. A stele.

“By the Angel!” Alec grabbed it, the Adamas tip lit under his touch. “How?”

“The guard dropped it when you attacked him. Figured we’d be better off with it, than me fighting a losing battle with you.”

He turned from Magnus so he could use the Stele without showing his soulmark. First awkwardly unlocking his handcuffs, failing the first time, but succeeding the second. Next Nourishment, then an Iratze. As his wounds started to close he traced Stamina, Strength, and Agility. “We need to take down the runes that are blocking your power.”

“Can’t we just go outside?” Magnus asked. “Once I’m beyond them, I’ll be able to use magic again.”

“The exits were heavily guarded when I was brought in,” Alec argued. “We can’t risk it. Damaging the wall runes are the best way to go. Then you can portal from inside, without the guards knowing.”

Magnus frowned, it didn’t look like he liked the plan, but nodded. “Okay.”

Alec drew the unlock rune and he heard the click. Pushing open the door, he felt his shoulders drop with relief. He motioned Magnus out, then rushed over to the wall and dragged the stele across the rune. Damaged, the black mark turned grey.

On his way back to Magnus, he stopped outside of the cell with the huddled up woman. She didn’t move in the slightest. He slowly reached inside of the cage, and touched her shoulder. The body cold and stiff. He shut his eyes and pulled his hand back. The poor Seelie had died at the hands of Valentine, like so many Downworlders, Mundanes, and Shadowhunters before her. How many more would the madman kill?

He walked back over to Magnus.  “Three more to go.”

“The woman?”

“Dead,” Alec said softly.

Magnus nodded, and didn’t look surprised. Like deep down he’d known, but held just a kernel of hope only to have it dashed.

Alec looked around quickly, hoping for a weapon, only to come up empty handed. He stopped Magnus before they left the dungeon. Stele in hand, he activated his soundless rune. “Hold my hand,” he said. “I can extend Soundlessness it to you.”

Magnus stared at him for a moment, then down at the extended hand. On a dramatic sigh, he grabbed Alec’s hand, like even holding his hand was a hardship. The frayed bit of Magnus’s long sleeve brushed Alec’s arm. Something shifted in Alec’s chest as he looked at their hands clasped together. The contrast of their skin, the tone, the texture. Magnus’s hands were so soft, supple, while Alec’s were calloused from weapons, and dry. Magnus’s nails defied being chipped, the dark purple going perfectly with his shirt. Alec’s nails were bitten down, and according to Isabelle, in desperate need of a manicure.

Magnus made a clear motion to move. That pushed Alec from his daze, he looked away, embarrassed to have been caught staring at their hands. More so, embarrassed by how much he liked the feel of holding Magnus’s hand.

With Magnus’s bad leg, they had to walk, and the pace was slow. Alec’s heart hammering in his chest at every noise they heard. As afraid as he was, he knew he had to get Magnus out of this mess. Such a high profile Warlock was important to the Downworld, and with the Accords coming up, also to the Clave.

It had nothing to do with the soulmate bond trying to form. It didn’t.

They got the rune in the south part of the facility. The moment his Stele left the brick, Magnus dragged him into an alcove before a Circle member could spot them. Their bodies pressed together in the tight space. The woman walked out of view, and Alec let out a breath. Two more. They had to get two more before someone noticed they weren’t in their cell.

Every step turned up Alec’s anxiety. Every sound real, or imagined had them pausing, terrified little rabbits in the middle of the hall. His hand tightened in Magnus’s as he poked his head around the corner, they waited while a couple of Circle members talked. Their conversation surprisingly mundane, talking about coffee shops, arguing over where one could get the best latte.

His anxiety was at an all-time high by the time they started walking away, one slipping into a room, the other disappearing around another corner. 

Alec, conscientious of Magnus’s leg went as slow as possible, even though every fiber of his body was screaming at him to run. They found the rune on due East. Alec pulled his Stele out, and angled his body carefully, not wanting Magnus to see the glittery words on his wrist. The good thing about them being glittery is that it made it difficult to read unless one was up close. The downside was that as far as his research had gone, he’d never heard of another soulmate mark that was in gold, much less in glitter. Fitting though, considering Magnus still had glitter on his cheekbones despite being in captivity for at least a day.

He hadn’t had the chance to see when Magnus had been taken; how long had the Warlock been suffering? It couldn’t have been for longer than Alec, considering the letter from Magnus delivered on the morning that Alec himself had been taken. 

“One more,” Magnus said, tugging his hand, pulling him through the hall.

They made it a few steps from the rune before an alarm rang. Alec cursed under his breath.  

They walked a little quicker, soundlessly, hand in hand. Magnus limped, and his hand tightened in pain. Alec heard people behind them. If they were caught in the halls, all their work was for nothing. They’d never escape. He yanked Magnus, and pushed open a door, praying it was empty. It was. Inside, they hid themselves in a supply closet. Two doors, more safety. Even though their breath would make no sound, they both held it out of fear.

After a minute of listening, the footsteps and voices were gone. Presumably. It was difficult to hear over the intermittent alarm.  Alec pushed open the door a crack, then stepped out. He walked to the desk, releasing Magnus’s hand, and opening a drawer.

“Now is not the time for snooping,” Magnus hissed. “We need to escape.”

“I know,” Alec grabbed a blank piece of paper, and looked over at Magnus on the other side of the room. The warlock looking out the small, rectangular window. He’d leaned against the wall, and he’d shifted all his weight onto his uninjured leg. With a great deal of fear, and pain in his heart, Alec wrote quickly, his scrawl messier than normal, but he knew that the recipient would be able to read it. He folded it up small. “Magnus.”

The warlock turned, and raised a brow.

Alec kept his mark pressed to his shirt, and extended the paper with his other hand. He wished there was another way, but this was the only thing he could think of to keep both Magnus and Jace safe.  “Give this to Jace.”

Magnus’s eyes widened at the implication. “No.” he shoved the hand back toward Alec. “Give it to him yourself!”

There were voices echoing down the long hallways. “There is no way we both make it. You can’t run, and these halls are swarming with Valentine’s men.” He stared at Magnus, trying to memorise the other man’s face. His guard down for once, it seemed that so was Magnus’s. Where had the anger and hatred in his heart gone? At some point it had dissolved, and Alec didn’t know when. More so, why did he feel more terrified for Magnus’s wellbeing in that moment than his own? He wanted to blame it on the soulmate mark, but he terrifyingly thought it had more to do with the man himself. “I can make it to the rune, and you can portal out of here.”

“Alec-“

“Do you have a better idea?” Alec snapped. “Because I don’t.”

Magnus looked down, his face full of anguish.

Alec didn’t have that recklessness that Jace had, he didn’t have a death wish. He wanted a way out, he wanted to survive, but wasn’t sure if that was in his cards, especially when he took away the one thing Valentine kept him alive for.

“You know I’m right,” Alec said. “It’s okay.”  He side-stepped around Magnus, and paused when Magnus grabbed him by the wrist.

“I’ll come back for you, with reinforcements,” Magnus said staring up into his eyes with intense determination. “You’re not dying here.”

“Stay hidden,” Alec said pulling his wrist back, noticing a dark shape there, above the fletching of his arrow mark- a soulmark nearly formed.

Magnus nodded, and stepped back.

Alec checked to make sure it was clear, then he took off running. While his footsteps were silent, others were not. There were people coming, patrolling, checking rooms now. If they found Magnus before he got that rune- _no_. He couldn’t even think about it. He had his True North rune on, which helped him directionally, and set him on course.

“There he is!” Someone shouted.

Alec glanced over his shoulder to see two men and a woman with circle runes on their neck running in his direction, seraph blades gleaming.

He turned the corner, slammed open the door and saw the rune on the wall. With a slash of his stele through it, the rune faded to grey like the others before. He saw it, on his forearm above the fletching of the arrow, his new soulmark had taken form. A bold red slash- it turned up from time to time on the bodies of dead Shadowhunters, it was in the books, Alec knew what it was- the mark of self-sacrifice.

He turned around and was faced with three blades pointed at him. It all came down to this. His heart raced, and he could barely catch his breath. Blinking away tears, he yanked up his shirt, and dug the stele into his skin, burning an intense line through his parabatai rune. Damaged, it faded to scar tissue leaving a white scar.

He felt a little bit of himself die, and he couldn’t feel Jace anymore. Not even a trace. That hurt a lot more than the three Circle members who chained him and dragged him back to Valentine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There have been a lot of people asking if there would be some Magnus POV. Next chapter, and the few after for sure. We're almost caught up to where I am writing- OH GOSH.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what sucks; cliffhangers. Also, Mondays. You know what else? Getting sick- DAMN IT FLU SEASON, YOU WIN THIS ROUND. So... here is a chapter, because today has sucked, and this is my effort to make it just a little bit better.

**_Deeds are love. Not fine phrases_ \- Spanish Proverb**

 

Magnus Bane portaled the moment he finally got his magic back. It would be suicide to rush out and try to play the hero, his magic weakened over time with the suppression runes, and it would ultimately make Alec’s sacrifice in vain. Instead, he did as Alec said. He portaled to safety, to the New York Institute. Magic immediately re-routed in his body, shooting down to his knee, slowly healing it. The little folded letter he carried feeling heavier than it should. He hobbled his way up the stairs, knee shooting pain through his leg. At the top, he pounded on the door until it opened. He pushed past the Shadowhunter who was not Jace.

“Where is Jace Wayland?” he shouted.

The Shadowhunters all around stopped to stare at him. “Who the hell do you think you are, Warlock?” one of the Shadowhunters said.

He didn’t like the way the Shadowhunters were staring at him, but he kept his head tall, and showed no sign of his injuries. “Magnus Bane, and I demand to see Jace Wayland, or the Head of this Institute!”

“I do not have time for this,” Maryse Lightwood said, storming through the command center. She looked on the edge of a complete meltdown. In other circumstances, he might have enjoyed her suffering. Her puffy, red eyes were narrowed into dangerous slits. Her hands were balled at her side.  “My son is… he’s dead, I don’t have time for a warlock-“

“Alec isn’t dead,” Magnus snapped.

“Yes. He is,” Maryse said, tears spilling despite her obvious attempt to keep them at bay. “Jace is in shock.”

Maybe those guards hadn’t just captured Alec. Magnus felt physically ill, he could feel heat creep over his skin. “No. No.” Magnus shook his head, shocked at his overwhelming feelings for a Shadowhunter he barely knew. “I just saw him. I just-“

“Where!” Maryse demanded.

“First, I need to see Jace.” Alec had entrusted him with the letter, Alec had needed it to be delivered, and damn it, Magnus would see it through. “Alec gave me something for him.”

“Give it to me!”

“I’ll deliver it personally,” Magnus insisted. He promised to come back for Alec with reinforcements. _He promised._ There was no way he’d be side-lined by Maryse Lightwood.

Maryse glared, obviously aware of the urgent, time-sensitive matter, she turned on her heel, motioning for him to follow. They went through the halls, and past the guards into the Infirmary.

Jace was on the bed, sweating and shaking, his eyes glassy. Isabelle was inconsolable beside him, her hand in his, slightly rocking in her seat, sobbing. Clary stood by a window, sadness clung to her like a shroud, but she was disconnected from the others grieving.

“Jace?” Magnus said, but the man didn’t appear to see him. “Alec gave this to me, said to deliver it to you.” He held out the paper, folded into a small square. Still, nothing. The shock of losing his soulmate- no, no, no, Alec couldn’t be dead. Not yet. They had time. They had to save him.

Magnus thought of the way the young man had looked sprawled out on the guest bed; young, and innocent. Too young to die- even if he’d made a mistake, let his anger at Maryse get the better of him, and let his torment of her go on too long. In his guilt, he’d gone easy on the blood oath with Jace, trying to tip the scales of karma back in his favour. He thought of how Alec had acted on instinct when the Shadowhunters had brought Clary along, how he had caught Magnus before he could fall- other Shadowhunters might have ignored a Downworlder suffering, but Alec had tried to help. He thought of Ezekiel, who Alec had done everything to save. He thought of the suffering he’d gone through at the hands of Valentine, and he had assured Magnus’s escape, but not his own.

Even Alec attacking him at home, he understood. It came from a place of loyalty, love, and fear for his soulmate. Would Magnus have done any different if he had his? Oh, he’d heard the words, even from Alec himself, but he’d heard them many times, and what kind of person said those words first? Magnus had no intentions of being with someone who thought him a monster. He was doomed to be alone, cursed perhaps.

He grabbed Jace by the shoulders, and gently shook him. “Jace!”

Jace’s hands clasped around Magnus’s wrists, his eyes suddenly clear. “Magnus?”

Magnus pulled free of Jace’s hands, surprised at the sudden clarity in Jace, however, the young man was still distraught. “We have to save Alec. He gave me this,” Magnus handed the paper over to Jace.

“Alec is dead,” Jace said, his breath hitching. He pulled up his shirt, a parabatai rune faded to scar tissue. “I felt him die.”

Isabelle pulled a tissue from a box and noisily blew her nose.

“Read it,” Magnus begged, feeling so lost without the paper in his hand.

Jace unfolded it with reverence, and stared at the ink.

“What does it say?” Isabelle asked, clearly trying to pull herself back together.

Jace took a deep breath. _“Jace, I’m sorry. I have to do this. It’s the only way to keep you safe.”_ Jace’s voice broke, and he cleared his throat. “ _He wants me to betray you. He’s trying to track you through our Parabatai rune. I won’t let him. I have to sever our bond.  It’s the only way to be sure. Be safe, Parabatai. –A’_ ” Jace stared at the paper in hand. “By the Angel, Alec!” He kicked away a sheet that had been draped over his legs.

“Wait, does that mean Alec might still be alive?” Isabelle said, her entire body shifting as she had hope once more.

“The parabatai bond is one of the strongest in existence,” Magnus said. “It surely felt more solid than your soulmate bond.”  He pointed to the barely seen words on Jace’s collarbone, then realized it didn’t match the placement of Alec’s- for his was surely on his always hidden wrist.

“Not that soulmate,” Jace said, his face surprised that Magnus would even think it. He rucked up his shirt displaying another on his ribs, much more intricate in design. “Platonic soulmate.”

They were rare. Magnus hadn’t thought-

“But you’re right. The parabatai bond is so strong, and we feel so much through it that…” Jace paused closing his eyes. “I feel him. He’s still there. It’s softer through the platonic bond, and I can’t tell how he is doing, but he’s there.”

“We need to get to him. Now,” Maryse said. “If Valentine was keeping him to get to you, and he’s severed the bond, Valentine won’t have any further use for him.”

“He’ll kill him,” Isabelle said in horror.

Magnus’s hand clenched. No, Alec wouldn’t die. Not today. “I don’t know where he currently has Alec, but I can portal directly back to that same room I escaped from.”

“It’ll do,” Jace said leading the charge, everyone leaving the infirmary in a cluster, and heading to the weapons room. “We have to get Alec back!”

::

Magnus followed the Shadowhunters through Valentine’s lair. They left a trail of dead bodies as they went, brutal, almost mechanical precision of their weapons. Their wrath as sharp as their blades. They heard a scream, and everyone froze. “Alec,” Maryse whispered, agony in her features before they hardened. While Magnus still hated the woman, he understood the love of a parent and child.  

They moved faster, cutting through enemies, before reaching the open door. The sight of Alec on his knees, cuffed wrists hooked to a ring on the floor, set a blaze of anger in Magnus. The young man had his head bowed, and over his shoulders, could see bloody marks, made by a whip or a knife. Alec looked up, his face swollen, bloody, his nose slightly off center.

The Shadowhunters charged at the guards, at Valentine. Magnus felt pulled toward Alec, and instinct akin to breathing. He dropped down to his knees, keeping one eye on the fighting. “Alec, you’re safe now.”

Alec’s eyes fluttered. “Yeah.” And with that, he promptly passed out.

 _Shit._ Magnus grabbed the poor boy, and supported him with his body to ensure he didn’t fall and pull at his wrists any worse than he already had, or hit his head. When an enemy came near, he blasted them with magic tinged red with his anger. He heard bones break when the body hit the wall.

He turned his attention back to Alec, and with magic, he knitted together the heavily bleeding head wound. He needed Caterina, she was better with healing. She’d know if there was something internal that needed fixing. What if he had a concussion? What if there was blood around the brain? He sent some magic down Alec’s arms, healing his wrists and popping the cuffs.

And on those wrists, even though Magnus hadn’t thought about it, he saw the words Alec had tried so hard to keep hidden. _‘You look pretty worthless to me.’_ Magnus cringed. Who would say such a- …oh. His heart sank. He’d been careless with his words, spoken in anger, and those were the first words he’d said to Alec. Those were the words a young boy had to carry around, grown into a man assuming his soulmate would see him as worthless. “You’re not worthless,” Magnus held the man tighter to his chest. “Oh, Alec. I’m sorry.”

He knew the pain all too well. _‘You monster,_ ’ written on his wrist. Warlocks were a little different with their marks, occasionally theirs changed shape when a mortal soulmate died. He hadn’t had one for the first centuries of his life, and then when it finally came, he spent centuries without ever making a connection, without the words ever changing. He’d spent centuries thinking that the person who was supposed to love him would look at him like a monster. But no, like the words Magnus had spoken, those too were spoken in anger- and in fear.

“How is he?” Jace asked, crouching down, blood speckling his face- not his own.

“Unconscious,” Magnus answered. “I need to get him somewhere safe where I can actually check his wounds. I need to call a friend, she’s better with healing than I am. He looks bad, this is more than what runes can typically handle.” He looked around. “Valentine?”

“Dead,” Jace replied, shadows dancing on his face, a stony blank mask.

“Mom!” Clary’s shout pulled their attention elsewhere. Maryse stormed off, following the young woman’s voice into another room. “Mom, wake up!”

“We’ll have to take her,” Maryse said, and a moment later, Maryse carefully walked out, her arms full of Jocelyn who was limp in her grasp.

“We have to do something,” Clary said, frantic.

Isabelle grabbed Clary’s shoulder. “Relax, she doesn’t look injured.”

“Her pulse is normal,” Maryse said. “It must have been some kind of potion.”

“We’ll deal with it once we’re out of here,” Jace said, he then pulled Alec’s arm over his shoulder, and braced behind his shoulders, and knees before lifting him up into his arms. “Come on, big guy,” he muttered. “Get us that portal, Magnus!”

While he didn’t like taking orders from the cocky blond, Alec was frightfully limp in the other man’s arms. He conjured the portal, and followed the rest of them through, sealing it once inside the Institute Infirmary.

Jace, whom Magnus thought of as arrogant and reckless, laid Alec down with the kind of gentleness that one might handle delicately spun glass with. He ran his hand over the large rune on the side of Alec’s neck, deflect- if Magnus’s memory served, and took his face within his hands. After a moment of study, Jace frowned. “Call in Ruth. His nose is broken and I don’t want to risk making it worse.”

Maryse walked past and set Jocelyn down on another bed. She appeared torn between her duty- to call in the Silent Brothers, to call the Clave because of Jocelyn Fairchild, and her family- her son laying vulnerable and injured on the bed. “I’ll get Ruth, and contact the Silent Brothers.”

Clary stuck to her mother’s side, holding her hand. For her, there was no one else in the room.

Jace’s hands went down Alec’s closest arm, feeling for anything out of place. “This would be easier if I could still feel you,” he whispered. “I’d know where you hurt.”

There was such anguish in his voice that Magnus had to look to the ground for a moment to recollect himself, to keep his mask in place, to keep everyone from seeing how badly this was affecting him. When he looked back up, he saw Jace staring, his hands over a wrist where the manacles once were. “I saw how bloodied and cut up they were when we went in,” Jace said, his thumb smoothing over the cracks of blood left behind with no wound left to show for it. “Thank you.”

A part of him wanted to flippantly demand payment, put a wall between them once more, but feared his voice would break and give him away. Instead, he gave a sharp nod, accepting the thanks, and demanding nothing more.

Jace’s hand went to his platonic soulmate’s chest, feeling the skin, resting over his ribs, tracing them with his fingers. It looked oddly intimate, yet not, and Magnus couldn’t look away from the seeking fingertips over bruised flesh. “Ribs are fine, breathing seems a little shallow.”

“Might be because of his nose,” Isabelle said. “He naturally keeps trying to breathe through it.” The grin she wore was forced. “Stubborn.”

“His last name _is_ Lightwood,” Jace said.

Maryse must not have had to go far, because she came back in with another woman.

“If you’re willing, I can call in a favour with a friend,” Magnus said. “His back needs treatment, and if you want him up and running anytime in the next month, you need Warlock healing, not runes. There was a bleeding head wound earlier, I already patched it.”

“Running a tab, are you?” Maryse said warily.

“No. I owe Alec,” Magnus replied, his tone frosty. “And I intend on repaying him.”

“Please, do,” Jace said staring at Magnus then, Maryse like he dared the woman to argue. “I can’t tell if the head wound caused any damage,” Jace said. “I can’t… I can’t feel him.”  

“Yes, you can,” Isabelle said, rounding the bed to stand by her brother, she wrapped her arms around Jace from behind, since he wouldn’t stop touching Alec. “You can’t feel him like you could, but you can-“

“It’s not the same,” Jace snapped. He pulled his Stele from the pocket of his jacket, and drew one on his side, close to the scar of the parabatai rune like he could fix them.

Ruth’s icy glare told Magnus all he needed to know. He ignored her and stepped away to make the call to Catarina. He watched from a bit of a distance. Magic brought forth his phone, and he frowned at the broken pieces that ended up in his hand. He tossed it in the bin, and found a piece of paper and a pen instead.

Even as he wrote, he kept glancing up at Alec, he froze as Ruth placed her steady hands on either side of his nose, and in the silence of the room, he heard the bone snap back into place. Alec made no sign of noticing. He finished off the vague note as Jace, Ruth, and Maryse did their best to gently roll Alec to his side so they could inspect his wounds, the sheet stuck to the blood, and Magnus felt his stomach clench.

With magic, the letter became a flame. Only seconds later did a messy scrawl return to him.

_Meet outside._

“Catarina can’t portal directly in,” he said to them. “I’ll meet her at the door.”

“I’ll escort you,” Maryse said.

He arched a brow. “Still don’t trust me?”

“This is time sensitive, and I saw the looks you were getting earlier. No one will bother you, or your friend while I’m with you,” Maryse said her blue eyes clear, as she stared, expecting another argument.

“Lead the way, then,” he replied. He followed Maryse through the Institute, and just as she said, as soon as a Shadowhunter so much as glared, Maryse would send them a look and they’d go right back to work.

Maryse pulled open the front doors, and Magnus found Catarina pacing. “Magnus,” she breathed his name like it was the first time she could breathe. He rushed to her, into her arms, held her tight. “You’re alright,” she said, her fingers digging into the back of his shirt- one dirty and bloody from captivity, and from holding Alec’s limp body against his chest while the others fought. She pulled back and looked at him. “I couldn’t find you, and you look like Hell. What happened, you were so vague in the let-“

“Please, over a bottle of very expensive wine, or three, I will explain everything,” he told her. “But first, I need you to help Alec.”

“The Shadowhunter?” she fell into step with him, the two lead by Maryse.

“He helped me escape. At the potential cost of his own life,” Magnus said, waving a hand before she could ask more questions. “I’ll answer, I promise you, but right now,” he went through the open door of the Infirmary, only to find Ruth barking out orders, Isabelle up by Alec’s head, and Jace trying to keep Alec’s shoulders pinned as he seized. “Cat!”

“Move,” Catarina barked, her magic flaring around her hand, as she took over for Isabelle. The magic didn’t just work internally, but reduced the swelling around his eyes. The seizure stopped, and Alec was terrifyingly still.

“Cat?”

“He’s okay,” Catarina said, her glamour dropped while working her magic. “There was some internal bleeding,” she said, almost trancelike. “Working on the concussion.”

Jace drew a line of Iratze’s down his parabatai’s side, the worst of the welted red marks in that area healed, but it wasn’t enough to go all the way around his back. “They aren’t working as well,” Jace muttered to himself. He traced the Parabatai Rune on Alec’s hip with his finger. “It’s supposed to work better when I do it. I’m sorry, Alec.”

Between Jace’s runes, and Magnus’s magic, they got Alec’s back looking better. While still red, and inflamed, the cuts were sealed. Isabelle took the task of carefully cleaning the blood off with a white cloth that soon became dark pink.

Sometime later, Catarina deemed Alec stable. She then turned to Magnus. “And you?”

“I’m fine, Cat.”

“I’ll portal us to your place then,” Catarina said.

Magnus, however, couldn’t tear his eyes away from Alec. He didn’t want to leave him, but couldn’t find an excuse that the Shadowhunters would take for staying.

“Mr Bane,” Maryse caught his attention. “Please return to check on him promptly at eight am. I’ll be waiting outside.”

He considered it an odd request, but Maryse before had swallowed her pride to ask for help for her son. He nodded, tomorrow would have to do. And so, along with Cat, Isabelle escorted them to the door.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still super sick, so this may or may not have been edited well. Forgive my errors.

**_Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when we look back, everything is different-_ C.S. Lewis**

 

Over that bottle of wine, Magnus explained to Catarina, and Ragnor (who’d come to watch over Ezekiel when Catarina had gone to the Institute,) what happened. At a later hour Raphael came, demanding answers for himself, which had Magnus retelling the story again.

He had left the apartment to acquire a few things for Ezekiel, as well as deliver a potion to a client on a time sensitive matter, leaving the boy with Catarina to watch over. The spell to keep Ezekiel alive had done a number on his magical stores. After delivering the potion, he was attacked by a number of Valentine’s men. A hit to the back of the knee had knocked something out of place, and while he’d managed to fight off a few of them, they managed to get runed cuffs around his wrists which kept him from using anymore of his magic. They transported him to an abandoned factory on a little island.

While there, Valentine questioned him about Warlocks, and other Downworlders, but Magnus refused to give any answers. His questioning didn’t last long, after only a few hours Valentine got distracted by someone new coming in, which was when Magnus was tossed into a cell with the Alpha of the Manhattan pack- who, after the battle, Magnus discovered had died.

“The newcomer must have been Alec,” Magnus said, then took a large gulp of his wine, and swirled the rest in his glass. “We were left alone until Alec was dragged in to that cell too.” He ran his thumb over his lip, finding them chapped. He told them about how Alec had charged when they came for the werewolf. How he, himself had managed to get the Stele, and thus Alec was able to get unshackled, unlock the cage, and take down the first rune suppressing Magnus’s magic.

He skimmed over details, the rough hand holding his, the way he leaned on Alec when the pain in his knee became too much, the way Alec always angled his body to keep Magnus from seeing that glittering mark.

Instead, he told them they got the next two runes before an alarm. He told them about hiding in an empty room, but skipped over the closet they’d stood close together inside of, the fear he’d felt, the certainty that they would be found and killed.

“I didn’t understand what he was doing at the desk, but I kept watch. He wrote a note to his soulmate. His platonic soulmate and Parabatai.” He downed the rest of the wine. “He gave me the note. I was slowing him down, with the alarms going off and my bad knee, there was no way we could run together to the last rune.”

“So he went alone,” Raphael said, sounding shocked.

Magnus bit his lip as he nodded. “The way he looked at me… he…” he looked at the wine glass, irritated to find it empty. “He didn’t think he was making it out alive, so he did what he could to ensure I did.”

“You went back for him,” Ragnor said. “And he’s healing well.”

Reaching for the bottle, Magnus filled his glass half-way. He almost needed that reminder from Ragnor, that the Shadowhunter he’d been trapped with had also survived, a little worse for wear, but would be fine given a little more time. “Of course I went back for him. I owed him that much.” Magnus stared into his wine remembering rushing through the corridors, the Shadowhunters slicing through any of Valentine’s Circle that stood in their way. “They’d hurt him plenty in the time I’d been gone.” He didn’t make mention of how he found Jace in shock, or the way he’d come right back into focus the moment Magnus grabbed him- but it was something that Magnus couldn’t get out of his head.

“But he’s alright,” Catarina said, leaning over, from her spot on the couch, so she could grab his hand.

He squeezed her fingers, brushed his thumb over her blue knuckles, thankful for something to keep him tethered to the here and now. The trauma too close, the wine perhaps a bad idea. “He will be,” Magnus agreed. He could practically feel the weight of Alec’s body leaning against his as he remembered the young man shackled to the ground, the way the fight bled out of him the moment Magnus and the cavalry arrived.

He debated on telling his friends what else he’d discovered. His soulmate. He kept his mark craftily hidden, unfortunately it was one mark that glamours didn’t work long on, sometimes he’d cover it with make up, others with clothes. He didn’t want to explain it to them. Not yet. Not when he, himself didn’t know what he was going to do about it.

He told them briefly of Jocelyn Fairchild, for Catarina at least, had known he’d done work for her in the past, erasing Clary’s memories.

“You should get some rest,” Raphael suggested. “You look like you could use it.”

Magnus didn’t have the energy to feign offence. Even now, his magic suffered, depleted in such a way that left him in great need of sleep, and a hearty breakfast in the morning. “You’re probably right.” He set the wine glass aside. He stood, bid them goodnight, and found himself in Catarina’s strong arms.

She didn’t say anything, just squeezed extra tight just before she let go. It spoke of the fear she’d suffered while he’d been missing. She nodded a little, like he’d passed some sort of test. “Goodnight,” she said to him before curling back up on the couch next to Ragnor, who passed her wine back.

He left his friends talking, calmed by the sounds of their voices, but in the hall he found little Ezekiel standing there in blue pajamas, clutching a stuffed dinosaur. There were tears in his blue eyes. “You didn’t come back.”

The breath rushed from his lungs like he’d been punched. The fear on the child’s face too much to bare. “I’m sorry, I wanted to.” Ezekiel, he had discovered once the boy had awoken, had run when he and his father had been attacked by demons. Despite searching a little before being captured, Magnus hadn’t come up with any information on Ezekiel’s missing father.

“I thought demons got you, but Cat said that Shadowhunters took you away.”

Magnus sighed, and crouched down to Ezekiel’s level, thankful that his knee was doing much better. “Bad ones did, yes.” And for the first time ever he felt the need to defend a group of them. “But not all Shadowhunters are bad.”

The boy squeezed his toy a little tighter. “Cat said they are.”

Magnus’s lips pressed into a firm line, he then blew out a breath. “Do you remember Alec?”

He nodded. “The not-a-warlock who helped.”

“That’s right, he helped,” Magnus said, running his hand over Ezekiel’s shaggy black hair, trying to soothe him. “Alec is a Shadowhunter, a good one.”

Ezekiel’s eyes widened. “But-but Cat said they had lots of marks… runes?” The boy shook his head. “Alec didn’t have any.”

“A glamour rune hid them. Like how we can hide our Warlock Marks,” Magnus explained flickering his eyes, then glamouring them again. “I’m sure he didn’t want to scare you.”

“Oh.” The boy looked to his dinosaur. “Alec didn’t come see me. You said he wanted to.”

“I know, but… he was taken, like me.”

Ezekiel’s eyes returned to Magnus. “Is he okay?”

“He’s healing. I’m going to check on him in the morning.”

“Can I come?”

Magnus shook his head. “The Institute is no place for little Warlocks. But when he’s better, I’m sure he’ll come see you. But for now, you and I both need to go to sleep.” He stood back up. “Come on, back to bed, little one.”

::

Magnus’s alarm went off at ten to eight. He reached blindly, finding the digital alarm clock, hitting every button and switch until it finally shut up. He’d have to see about getting a new phone. What a pain.

Despite finally having some rest in his own bed, it was nowhere near long enough. His body ached, and in response, his magic flickered and waned with his exhaustion. Healing his own wounds, and then those of Alec after being in captivity had done a number on him, and he hadn’t the time to recover.

In any case, he dragged himself out of bed rather reluctantly. He cut everything he could out of his routine, and went for the bare minimum to still be considered decent. His clothes would still stand out- Magnus Bane didn’t do _casual dress._

Ragnor was in the living room reading. “Thanks for staying,” Magnus said. “I take it Cat’s already left to the hospital?”

“She has,” Ragnor replied. “I’ll keep an eye on the kid, but he’s still asleep. Raphael baked a bit last night if you want to grab a muffin before you go.”

It didn’t surprised Magnus much to know that the vampire baked, he also cooked even if he couldn’t eat it. Magnus made a beeline for the kitchen, ate one of the blueberry muffins so fast he barely tasted it, but it finally got that pit of aching hunger out of his system. He ate the second one a little slower with a cup of coffee Ragnor must have brewed because it was ten times stronger than anyone should ever drink.

Jittery with the caffeine hitting his system, he conjured a portal, and stepped through. He climbed the steps of the Institute, thankful his magic had finished healing his knee during the night. The door opened, but it wasn’t Maryse at the door, but Isabelle.

The young Shadowhunter looked much like her mother did at that age. “Mr Bane,” she said with a respectful nod. “Thank you for coming.”

And just like that, Magnus felt a shift, a change. The younger generation of Shadowhunters held a modicum of respect, and maybe, just maybe, things would change. He wouldn’t hold his breath, but this would be an interesting turn of events.

She led him, and when one Shadowhunter dared to step in their way and opened their mouth to speak, the bracelet Isabelle wore uncurled, lengthening as it slithered on the ground, a coiling electrum whip. “You have something to say?” she asked with the eerie kind of calm that would make lesser men piss themselves.

The man looked rightfully frightened, instead of speaking, he turned and returned to work. Isabelle’s whip recoiled and she adjusted it around her wrist. She started leading once more, and checked with a quick glance to make sure he was still walking with her. He made a mental note- _do not get on the wrong side of Isabelle Lightwood._

Outside of the Infirmary, a small figure poked their head out from behind a vase on a pedestal. “Max!” Isabelle huffed out a breath. “Dammit! You’re supposed to be in Rune studies!”

“But Alec-“

“You can’t see him yet.” Isabelle sighed, and looked at Magnus. “He’s inside with Mom and Jace.” She then turned to Max and grabbed his arm, all but dragging him back down the hall, ignoring his protests.

Magnus didn’t take any time opening the door, afraid that if he stopped to think about it, he’d end up turning heel and leaving. Inside, the privacy sheets separated beds with flimsy walls. He poked his head around the first one where Alec had been the previous night. Alec and Jace were on the same bed, both laying on their backs, their heads on the same pillow, facing each other. Jace’s hand had wound around Alec’s wrist, like even in sleep he was counting heartbeats.

Maryse sat on a chair next to the bed, her fingertips were tracing over Alec’s soulmate mark. She turned, and looked at Magnus, and he felt chilled by the tears in her eyes. She then returned her gaze to the glittering mark. “You.”

He played dumb. “Me?”

“You said this to him. I remember,” her voice soft, pained. “You looked my son in the eye and told him he was worthless.”  

A conversation he never expected, nor wanted, to have with Maryse Lightwood. If anyone, he should first be having it with Alec himself.  Unable to see a way out of it, Magnus pulled up a second chair, and slowly sat down next to her, half expecting a fight. Instead, the silence stretched. Instead of speaking, he did what he hadn’t done before. He pulled up his sleeve, used magic to rid the skin of the concealer. She looked at his mark, the frown remained.

“Quite the pair,” she whispered.

“We spoke in anger. I reacted in anger, not even toward him, but toward you,” Magnus said, keeping his voice down. “I regret it.”

Alec roused a little, shifting, his eyes opening, then quickly closing tight. “Alec,” Maryse’s hand went from the mark, to her son’s hands. “Can you hear me? Can you squeeze my hand?”

Magnus watched as Alec’s long fingers tightened a little around his mother’s, but his eyes stayed stubbornly closed. Magnus stood, his magic twisting around his fingers. “I should probably check him out.”

Alec’s eyes opened, squinting at the light, blinking a few times to focus. He looked at Jace, to his mother, then settling on Magnus. “Magnus,” he spoke his name full of surprise, and relief. “Are you okay?”

It struck him, right in the heart. Alec could have said something to his platonic soulmate, could have said something to his mother, could have asked about his own condition, but instead, he asked Magnus about his. “I’m just fine,” Magnus said. “You’re the one who’s been-“ _tortured-_ “through the ringer.”

Alec swallowed in a way that looked painful, and his mother ran a hand over his hair. “I’ll get you some water. I’ll be right back.”

“How-how’s your,” he tried clearing his throat, “knee,” Alec got the words out through pure will.

“Stop talking until you’ve had a bit of water,” Magnus advised. “I told you, I’m fine. All healed up. I wouldn’t mind a few more hours of sleep or a good ol’ steak, but I’m fine.” His fingers, lit with magic, hovered over Alec’s shin. “I’m going to check you over, make sure everything is healing as it should be.”

Alec gave the slightest nod. Maryse returned and helped Alec sit up just enough that he could take a few small sips from the straw. Somehow, nothing managed to wake Jace.

Magnus slowly moved his hands, hovering a few inches over Alec’s body. He soothed muscles because he could, not because they were anything dangerous. He helped push along the healing on a couple of the worse wounds, killed off the beginning of an infection, and he sought out any fractures that were missed, but found none. He hovered his hand over the arm with the soulmate mark and suddenly Alec jerked it back, waking a dazed, but automatically battle-ready Jace who jumped out of bed and stood defensively.

“You saw it already, didn’t you, while I was sleeping,” Alec said, his words a rush, like if he stopped he might not get the rest out.

“I did,” Magnus admitted.

“You’re awake,” Jace said, a little belatedly, a little dazed, a little confused.

And because Jace clearly needed it, and Alec looked a little lost himself, both of them stuck their hands out at the same time, and grabbed hold of one another again.

Jace sighed. “I can’t believe you severed the bond.”

“I had to,” Alec said, looking down at the sheet that covered his body.

Magnus knew that eventually, he and Alec would speak about the words, but there was something so pained about the two young men. They’d both felt a sudden, inexplicable loss. A wound that Magnus couldn’t fix.

“Your injuries are healing optimally,” Magnus said, his fingertips trailing over the glittering words on Alec’s forearm. “Call me if you need anything.” He hoped that the little squeeze of his fingers over the mark also ensured he would call for that particular elephant in the room.

Alec looked at Magnus's hand on his arm, then up at him, his blue eyes seeming brighter in contrast to the paleness of his skin. “Thank you." 

Magnus found his own emotions choking him, he gave a nod, and walked out of the Infirmary.


	18. Chapter 18

**_We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone_ ** **\- Ronald Reagan**

When Magnus heard the door open, he knew Catarina had found him where he sat on the roof. She sat down next to him. She’d taken the time to change out of her hospital scrubs, and wore a pretty sundress, her glamour down and she ran her hands through her still damp white hair. She picked up one of the many books he had on the table, and studied its cover, then some of the other’s in the same pile. “What are you doing?”

“Alec severed his parabatai bond to keep Valentine from being able to use it,” Magnus said. “It’s affecting both Alec and Jace.”

“I don’t think that is something you can fix,” Catarina said, setting the book back down. “It’s not like the other runes they can reactivate, or draw elsewhere if the skin becomes too damaged. It’s a big ceremony, it can only be done once.”

Magnus sighed. “I know all that.” He thought of old wars with Shadowhunters when Downworlders would strike particularly at runed flesh, damaging the rune and ending its purpose. He thought of Alec doing it to himself, proving just how far he would go to keep his soulmate safe; wondering, foolishly, if Alec would do the same for him. His jaw clenched realizing Alec already had, he’d already risked his life for Magnus.

“But here you are, searching anyway?”

He rubbed his eyes as the letters begun to blur. “I have nothing better to do today.”

Catarina’s little hum told him what she thought of that. “We still haven’t found Ezekiel’s father.”

“Do you think we will?” Magnus asked, his voice soft. “Ragnor kept looking, had other Warlocks looking while I was… gone. There might not be anything left to find.”

“There is a spell I’d like to try, but I need some of Ezekiel’s blood to do it.”

Magnus grimaced. “I know which one you mean. I wanted to exhaust any other methods first.”

“I know you want to protect the boy. I do too. But…”

“We might have wasted all the time his father had.”

“Maybe,” Catarina admitted softly. “I… I was so focused on finding you, and I didn’t put much effort into finding him. And if Micah is still alive, then he must be looking for his son.”

“If Micah is still alive, and searching, we likely would have found him.”

“You think Zeke’s father is dead.”

Magnus closed the book he’d been reading with a slam. “Yes, and now I’m looking at this problem, one that maybe I can fix, because Zeke’s father is almost surely dead, and Alec and Jace’s bond might still be salvageable.”

“You can’t fix everything,” Catarina said, her hand on his shoulder.

He didn’t reply.

She sighed. “Ragnor is getting dinner started. I’m going to help.” She stood, staring at him. With a swirl of her magic, the books all disappeared. “You’re helping too.” His eyes flashed gold, and she rolled her eyes. “Come on. It’ll do you some good.”

::

Catarina was right. He didn’t admit it out loud, but it did him some good to be with them in the kitchen. Ezekiel helped too, attacking potatoes with the peeler. They chatted, keeping the conversation light, and ensuring that Ezekiel could be kept in the loop. The boy talked about the cartoons he’d watched, and about the blanket fort Ragnor had promised he’d help build after dinner.

Steak and potatoes, with some mixed vegetables was just what Magnus needed. Ragnor sure knew how to make the best steak, and entirely too full afterwards, Magnus felt his magic building even though all he wanted to do was lay down in a little food coma. He did end up laying down on the couch in the living room, watching as Ragnor and Ezekiel dragged his furniture around. Catarina had sat down on the high backed chair with a magazine but had already fallen to sleep there.

Magnus watched the little boy drape blankets over the coffee table, and one of the chairs before rushing off to drag another one from his bed. Catarina was right. One way or another he had to find Ezekiel’s father, Micah. He had to let the boy know for sure. In the morning, they’d speak to him, but for now, Magnus watched the boy hand the sheet to Ragnor, who draped it with a little help of magic over some of the dining chairs they’d dragged in.

“Awesome!” Ezekiel said, before rushing off. He returned a short moment later with an arm full of stuffed animals.

“I swear, they’re multiplying,” Magnus said, his eyes cutting toward Ragnor who frowned and shrugged in such a way that confirmed his guilt. Magnus couldn’t help but laugh.

::

In the morning, while chatting about how to bring up the spell to find Ezekiel’s father in the kitchen with Ragnor over coffee, a flicker of fire caught their attention. That light left behind ash which solidified into paper as the fire crept over and then dissipated. A fire message. Magnus grabbed it.

_Tried calling. Phone out of service?_

_-A_

Ragnor raised a brow. “The Shadowhunter?”

Magnus nodded, summoned a pen, and flipped the paper over.

_Destroyed. Are you well?_

_-M_

With the paper pinched between thumb and middle fingers, he gave the paper a shake and it lit, the fire eating it away until nothing.

He tapped his fingers on the island, while he waited for the response. A flicker, and once more the paper burned into view, an outline of a rune showing in the fire before it disappeared leaving the paper behind.

_Fine. I’m outside. Can I come up?_

_Warning; They won’t leave me alone for more than ten seconds._

_-A_

Ragnor and Magnus exchanged a look, then strode across the apartment, out the doors to the balcony and looked down. Sure enough Alec stood there, leaning against one of the street lights, twirling a pen, Stele in his other hand; Jace was there, staring at Alec like he was afraid he’d disappear; Clary stood close to Jace, and Isabelle stood off to the side able to keep an eye on all of them.

“I am not comfortable with this,” Ragnor said quietly.

“Honestly, neither am I,” Magnus said. “He shouldn’t even be out of the infirmary.”

“Looks like his entourage thinks the same way.”

Instead of sending another message, he put two fingers in his mouth and let loose a sharp whistle. Each of the Shadowhunters immediately turned their heads in his direction, and he was a little surprised that they all seemed to have werewolf like hearing. He leaned on the railing, and went for nonchalance. “You know where my door is.”

Alec nodded sheepishly, and led the way. The rest of the Shadowhunters followed him. He pulled down his wards, and opened the door, waiting in the hall until the elevator down the hall dinged, and the four of them stepped out.

“Hey,” Alec said, pausing, and looking a little sick as he looked around the hall.

Magnus frowned, realizing he was leaning in the doorway, everything a little too close to how it had been when they first met, when he’d first said those ugly words on Alec’s wrists, which were covered by the long sleeved black shirt he wore. He quickly stepped back and held the door. “Come in.”

“Thanks,” Alec said, stepping past him.

Jace stuck so close to Alec, it was shocking that he didn’t knock the other man over. Clary smiled at Magnus, genuine and sweet. Isabelle gave a tight-lipped smile, and a little nod.

“What brings four Shadowhunters here?” Magnus asked, sticking close to Ragnor.

“Alec,” Jace, Clary, and Isabelle said at once.

Alec sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck. “They literally won’t leave me alone.”

“You’re supposed to still be in the infirmary,” Isabelle said with a cut-eye directed at her brother.

“But I’m fine,” Alec said stubbornly. “I’m sore, but everything is healed.”

“Not everything,” Jace muttered.

“And I apologized for that.” Alec crossed his arms. “You know, Clary is the only one not giving me a hard time, and she’s only here because of you, so that honestly makes her my new favourite.”

Clary preened, and both Jace and Isabelle looked so offended that Magnus had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

“How is Jocelyn?” Magnus asked the little redhead.

Clary tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “Silent Brothers are working on it. Jace demanded I get out of the Infirmary for a while.”

“Yet insisted I stay in,” Alec muttered.

“You’re injured, she’s not,” was Jace’s defense.

“They know about Ezekiel,” Alec informed. “I didn’t have much choice but to tell them.”

Ragnor stiffened beside him, and Magnus put a hand on his old friend’s shoulder.

“How is he?” Alec asked, shoving his hands into his jean pockets.

Magnus stood a little straighter. “He’s doing well.”

“Any news on his father?”

“We know his name is Micah Goldhirsch,” Magnus said.

Alec glanced as Isabelle who shook her head. “No one in the morgue under that name,” she said. “No John Doe either.”

“I’ll let you know if we come across anything,” Alec promised.

“I would appreciate it,” Magnus said.

“Alec!” Everyone turned. Ezekiel stood right outside of his bedroom door in pajamas, his favourite stuffed dinosaur tucked under his arm as he walked down the hall. The boy’s scales glittered under the lights, his big blue eyes flickering around, clearly zoning in on the obvious runes on Isabelle and Jace’s bare arms, and Alec and Clary’s necks. He stopped in his step, and held his toy closer.

“Hey Ezekiel,” Alec said, his voice soft. He crouched down a little stiffly, clearly trying not to intimidate the boy with his height. “You look like you’re feeling much better.”

Slowly, the boy nodded.

“Magnus and Ragnor must have been taking very good care of you.”

“Cat too.”

Alec smiled a little. “Yeah, Cat too. I hear she helped me too,” he glanced up at the Warlocks. “I wanted to thank her, but it doesn’t look like she’s here right now.”

“She’s at work.”

Alec looked to the living room, and pointed. “I take it that awesome fort is your work.”

Ezekiel smiled. “Rangor helped.” He then came a little closer and extended his scaled hand. “Come on, see inside.”

“I don’t think-“ Magnus started quietly only to be cut off by Alec agreeing and standing back up, holding the little boy’s hand. The group watched as Ezekiel crawled in, and after some inspection, Alec crouched and crawled his aching body inside.

Magnus wrapped his arms around himself trying to get over what seeing Alec with a little warlock child did to his emotions. He stomped over the little fantasies that sprung up like resilient dandelions, but it was futile.

Alec laughed, and they could hear the two of them talking but couldn’t make out what they were really saying.

“He’s okay,” Clary said, grabbing Jace by the forearm when he took a step forward. “Remember, just seek him out through your Platonic bond.”

“It’s not the same,” Jace said.

“I know,” Clary wrapped her arms around him, but Jace’s eyes remained firmly on the blanket fort.

“So, I’m sure this is just as awkward for you two as it is for us,” Isabelle said. “How about I order pizza?”

“Pizza!” Ezekiel shouted.

“It’s ten am,” Ragnor said.

“Pizza for breakfast!” Ezekiel shrieked. “This is the best day ever!”

Isabelle shrugged. “Sorry, I’m on night shifts, other people’s breakfast time is my dinner.”

“Pizza!” Ezekiel shouted again.

“No pineapple,” Alec shouted.

“Pineapples are great,” Clary argued.

“No little fish!” Ezekiel said.

“No hot peppers, no matter what Jace says!” Alec said.

“But I love hot peppers,” Jace said half-heartedly.

“I’m injured, you’re supposed to be taking care of me, not give me indigestion.”

Jace frowned. “Fine, no hot peppers.”

“No olives,” Clary said.

“Yes olives!” Alec argued.

Clary grimaced. “No, they’re gross!”

“I’m sore and injured and want olives!”

“Stop milking it,” Isabelle said with a stern voice, but a gentle smile.

They could hear Alec’s deeper voice whispering. Ezekiel giggled then shouted, “olives!”

Clary groaned and dropped her forehead to Jace’s shoulder.

“So, do you mind if we stick around a bit?” Isabelle asked Magnus. “And I’m sorry for all of us dropping in like this, but Alec was pretty determined to get here, and after everything… he…” she took a deep breath. “They took him while we were on a mission together, we separated to cover more ground.” She looked away a moment, collecting herself, but there were tears welling in her eyes when her gaze met his once more. “We couldn’t let him go off alone again. Not yet. Not so soon after getting him back. Not while he’s injured. Not while he and Jace haven’t figured out how to deal with the breaking of the Parabatai bond.”

When spoken like that, he could hardly deny them. “I don’t mind.” Strangely, he found the words ringing true.

“I need coffee.” Ragnor announced, and left for the kitchen.

“Any pizza requests?” Isabelle asked, pulling her phone from the back pocket of her jeans.

Magnus smirked and glanced toward the fort that took up the majority of his living room. “Hot peppers!”

“By the Angel! Why save me if you’re just going to kill me like this.” After a long pause, Alec then poked his head out of the tent, his hair a little disheveled from the blankets. “Too soon?”

“Yes,” they all said in response.

He grimaced. “Sorry.”

::

Ezekiel insisted they all eat within the blanket fort. Magnus had to work a little magic to make enough room, Ragnor took a little needling from Ezekiel, but eventually they all settled inside with a stack of pizzas. Even with magic, the space was tight, and thus Magnus ended up brushing elbows with Alec, who was sandwiched on his other side with Jace.

Alec opened one of the boxes, frowned, his nose wrinkling a little, as he shut it forcefully before shoving it at Clary across from him. “Pineapple,” he said like a curse. He hissed out a breath, and Clary quickly took the box from his shaking fingers. He shifted back, but his pallor gave away his pain.

“You should still be in the infirmary,” Jace said, his voice infused with anger.

“Doing what? Staring at a wall, and eating everything pre-blended?” He shook his head. “No, thanks.”

“Olives,” Ragnor said, passing the box Alec’s way.

Alec checked inside, and grinned. “And bacon,” he sent his sister an adoring smile. “You’re my favourite again.”

Isabelle laughed. “What one do you want Ezekiel?”

“The one like Alec’s.”

“Because you clearly have good taste,” Alec plated one for the child, and went to lean too far only to have the plate taken out of Magnus’s hands.

“Take it easy,” Magnus insisted, passing the plate himself.

“No hot peppers, not even on one,” Jace shot Isabelle a betrayed look.

Isabelle rolled her eyes. “Three pizzas were enough.”

“Who even eats veggie pizza?” Jace said, pointing at the box.

“I do,” Ragnor said, grabbing a slice.

Jace sighed, and ultimately took one of Alec’s to avoid the pineapple that Clary and Isabelle appeared content to eat. Magnus debated a bit before going for some veggie pizza. The one Alec, Jace, and Ezekiel were eating looked good, but since Alec managed to finish one piece before anyone else even managed to choose their slice, he figured the Shadowhunter might just need the fuel for his healing. It seemed that Jace thought the same because he declined a second but took a slice of veggie pizza.

“Can we watch a movie?” Ezekiel asked.

“Sure, why not,” Magnus agreed. “What do you want to watch?”

“My favourite is the Incredibles! Dash is really, really, really fast! And there are superheroes! And Frozone looking for his super suit, and it’s really funny! Dad likes watching it too!” Ezekiel’s mood dimmed. “Do you think you’ll find him soon?”

Ragnor sighed, glancing at Magnus. “There is a spell,” Magnus said softly, setting his pizza aside. “But we need something that ties directly to your father.”

“Like what?” Ezekiel asked.

“Your blood,” Ragnor said.

“That’s all, and then we can find Dad?”

Magnus took a deep breath. “Zeke, there… we might… you were hurt by the demons, and Alec found you soon after and brought you right here to be healed.”

“Yeah,” Ezekiel replied slowly.

“There is a chance that your Dad got hurt, but… no one found him right away…”

Ragnor put his hand on the boys shoulder. “We’ll find him, but we might not find him… alive.”

Ezekiel’s lip quivered. “We have to find him. Do the spell now!”

“Okay,” Ragnor said, and with a twirl of his hand, the blankets and chairs keeping the fort up were gone. “We’ll do it now.”

And while setting up for the spell, Clary took over cleaning up after pizza, Ezekiel toyed with the scales on his arms. Alec came over. “Can I help?”

“No,” Magnus said. “But I appreciate the offer.”

Alec nodded. “Would it help if we left?”

“Actually,” Magnus got the last of the spell ingredients, while Ragnor motioned Ezekiel over for the blood. “While you’re too… unwell-“ he figured calling a Shadowhunter ‘weak’ would be fairly insulting- “And Clary’s energy is too tumultuous… Jace and Isabelle might be helpful. Shadowhunter energy is particularly potent, and runs through runes before even using ones actual stores.”

Jace and Isabelle must have heard, because they appeared to be having a silent conversation with each other mostly with eyebrows and half shrugs. “Please,” Alec asked of them, and they both turned to him and nodded.

The spell didn’t take much time, the frame of the map outlined in the mixed ingredients to focus their energies. Magnus extended his hands to both Jace and Isabelle who took them, they then linked up with Ragnor. Clary, Alec, and Ezekiel stood off to the side, Ezekiel holding to the hem of Alec’s sweater.

Magic burned at the map. The blood seeking- even if they weren’t blood related, it was representative of family, and sought for the one Ezekiel felt bound. Bits of the potion worked its way through, eating at spots of the map where it passed, seeking, seeking, seeking. Magnus poured his power into the search, pulled from Jace and Isabelle to fuel the efforts.

It didn’t take long, and left a small section of the map left. They all huddled around it.

“That’s where my Dad is, right?” Ezekiel asked.

“We’ll go see what’s what,” Magnus said, looking at Ragnor.

“Wait, no, we’ll go,” Alec said, glancing at the Shadowhunters. “Ragnor should stay with Zeke.” His eyes searched Magnus’s out, and widened, like he desperately wanted to get his point across, but didn’t have any skill of telepathy.

“Okay,” Magnus said, if only because Alec seemed to know something he didn’t want to say in front of the child.

“We’ll be right back,” Magnus said, striding out of the room, being followed by the Shadowhunters. In the hall, he found that Alec had rucked up his shirt, and was tracing a faded Iratze, before pushing it back down. “You should stay.”

“I’m fine,” Alec said, he waited until Clary had the door shut behind them all before he took the lead, Magnus rushing a few steps to catch up to Alec’s long stride and head start. “That map, it’s… it’s not far from where I found Zeke.”

“You think he’s dead,” Isabelle said.

“I think he fought to protect his son, and died there. And Zeke ran as fast as he could, as far as he could and it wasn’t very far from that,” Alec said pointing to the small fragment of map in Magnus’s hand. “If we start the search from where I found Zeke-“

“We’ll find his father,” Jace finished. “The kid isn’t that big yet, he couldn’t have run that far.”

“Poor Zeke,” Isabelle said mournfully.

::

It didn’t take long for them to search. Starting from the dense long grass where Alec had found Ezekiel, and following barely there tracks that Jace had spotted, they followed in reverse. A patch where the grass had been burned a little, likely by magic, gave away they were in the right spot. And soon after, they found a body, twisted, and half rotted out by whatever the demon had gotten on the Warlock’s skin. On Micah’s skin. Magnus looked away. He’d figured this would be the outcome, but had desperately wanted to return to Ezekiel with good news.

A hand on his shoulder had him tensing, and immediately it was gone. “Sorry,” Alec said. “I should have come back here after finding Zeke, maybe then-“

“You can’t blame yourself.” Magnus replied. “I didn’t go out searching either.” He had been concentrated on the injuries of the child, and then his own magical depletion which left him weak and unfocussed.

“You were exhausted.”

“So were you.” Magnus took a deep breath. “You should all leave. I have people I need to call to deal with this. They wouldn’t take too kindly to having Shadowhunters around.”

Alec nodded. “Okay.” He then turned to his companions. “I’ll meet you on the path.” He stared directly at Jace, who looked the most reluctant, but whom turned first to leave. Alec remained quiet for a bit. “I’m sorry, did you know him?”

“No. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t personally know every warlock in my area.”

“I know this isn’t the time.” Alec took a deep breath. “My mark, and… yours, my mom told me-“ Magnus pulled up his sleeve and put his glittering _‘you monster’_ on display as he had for Maryse. A mournful sound left Alec, and he looked away. “I intended to talk to you about it but then they all followed me, and this.” Alec glanced over at him. “I… just… I guess, message me when- or if- you want to talk about it.”

Magnus nodded. He knew that they needed to talk about it, regardless of whether or not they actually decided to be together. “I do want to talk about it.”

“Let me know when,” Alec said, and with that, he stalked off in the direction the rest of his friends had.

Magnus knew it would be a painful few days, but sent out a message to the right people, one’s who would handle the body. The worst, he stood waiting over a nearly unidentifiable corpse, wondering what he would say to the man’s son.


	19. Chapter 19

**_Family is not an important thing. It’s everything._ – Michael J. Fox**

 

Alec stood in the grouping of Shadowhunter as his mother gave commands. She sent Jace, Clary and Isabelle out on a mission, purposely omitting him. He glared, but said nothing as everyone started to separate but Jace remained close. Maryse walked over, her heels clicking, head held high with the authority she held. “Jace, you have your orders.”

“Maryse,” Jace shook his head. “I-I can’t. You can’t just expect me to leave.”

“I can, and I do,” she replied, firm, but not unkindly.

The Parabatai looked to one another, neither happy. “I’m fine, Mom,” Alec said. “I can go on the mission. I’ll hang back, I usually do anyway.”

She motioned them to follow, and Alec shrugged before falling into step behind. She led them to the training room. From the wall, she grabbed a bow, and quiver. Her steps echoed in the room as she walked back to them and thrust the weapon and ammo at her eldest. “Hit the target,” she said, pointing to the one across the room.

Alec fitted the quiver to his back, and gripped the unfamiliar bow that was similar in style and weight to his own. He felt awkward, knowing his mother and Jace were both behind him, watching. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t done hundreds-no, thousands of times before. He took two steps forward while pulling an arrow, stepped cleanly into his stance, notched the arrow and pulled. Every muscle protested, the nearly healed lacerations on his back pulled painfully, he breathed through, and released.

The arrow went wide and shattered a display case. He grimaced, and bowed his head.

“You’re not ready, Alec,” Maryse said, her voice soft as the touch on his bicep, avoiding the wounds on his back and shoulders. “You’re healing, and you will get better, but you’re not there yet, and going out with the team will only put them at risk. You know this.”

Alec fretted, his stomach in knots. If he wasn’t there, who would make sure the team didn’t do anything reckless. Jace, nor Isabelle, nor Clary were particularly known for being level headed.

“As for you,” Maryse turned her attention to Jace. “You’re going on that mission. And you’re going to take extra care because Alec won’t be there to watch your back.”

“I’m acutely aware of that,” Jace said with bite. “I can’t feel him anymore, Maryse. Do you even understand how disorienting that is? Since we were sixteen years old I’ve been able to count his goddamn heartbeats if I wanted, and I can’t- there is nothing there anymore. Every part of my body is telling me he’s dead, and-“ Jace pushed a hand through his hair making it rather dishevelled. “I can’t fight like this,” he muttered as if it pained him to admit it. “I can’t focus, I’d put Clary and Izzy at risk if I go with them.”

Maryse studied him a long moment. “Fine. You stay here. But you’re staying separated from Alec.”

“What?” Jace snapped, his hands in fists at his sides. “Why?”

“Because, the bond is gone,” Maryse said. “Once it’s gone, it’s gone. I’m sorry, I know it’s not what you boys want to hear, but what’s done is done. You both need to get used to it. You’re both staying in the Institute, you’ll both be safe, and you’re going to have to get used to not being able to see or feel each other at all times.”

Alec hated it. Every word that Jace had spoken, Alec felt it too. The void he kept reaching into, trying to find that thread that led to his Parabatai, but it was gone, snapped, broken by his own hand. “I’m sorry, Jace,” his throat hurt, clogged with emotion. “I was… I was just trying to keep you safe.”

Jace whispered something under his breath, likely a curse. “I know,” he said, pulling Alec down into a hug, overly gentle hands barely touching his back. “We’ll figure it out. Maybe if we train together-“

“No,” Maryse vetoed the idea. “Nice try.”

Jace blew out a breath. “Worth a shot.”

“Go let Isabelle and Clary know to join Raj and Penelope,” she said to Jace. “Then, weapons training with Max.”

Jace frowned, and glanced at Alec, who shrugged. They didn’t have much choice in the matter. He watched as Jace sulked off. A sense of panic hit him the moment that Jace disappeared from view. He took a deep breath, reminded himself that Jace would be in the Institute, would be safe, would be with Max. Nothing bad would happen, not here.

“Come on,” Maryse said, leading them out the other exit. “I’ll give you some paperwork. Angel knows you get antsy with nothing productive to do.”

He followed his mother down the hall, tugging on the cuff of his sweatshirt, ensuring that the glittering letters stayed hidden.

In her office, he took over half of her paperwork, mostly financing. He worked the numbers around and then paused, glancing across the desk. He’d promised ages ago to have the conversation with his mother but there had never been time. “Mom?”

“Yes?”

“Did Jocelyn have another child? Other than Clary?”

Maryse’s eyes cut away from her paperwork, and she stared at him with wide eyes. “Why would you ask that?”

“When we were looking for the cup, we found some other stuff. In particular a set of toddler’s shoes. I figured if she was going on the run, and risking taking them they must mean something, and why bring toddler shoes for a child she hadn’t even birthed?”

Maryse sat back in her seat and let out a long breath. “There was another child. Jonathan. But, he died in a house fire.” She mulled it over. “Or so we thought. We also though Valentine died in that fire, along with Jocelyn’s parents. But since we both know Valentine only recently was killed… perhaps he didn’t kill his Jonathan?” She let out a breath. “He was posing as Michael Wayland, he had Jace-“

“Jace can’t be his son, not when Clary is his daughter and they’re soulmates,” Alec said, leaning forward slightly. “And do you really think that Valentine could kill a child?”

“Of course,” Maryse said. “Half the reason I stayed in the circle for as long as I did was because I was afraid of what he would do to you.”

“So, maybe Jace really is Michael Wayland’s son… or maybe Wayland’s son died in the fire.” Alec leaned back again, and looked down at the budget sheet, staring blankly. “Jocelyn might know more, all we can do is speculate.” It irritated him, not having the answers to something so close to his heart. Jace hadn’t talked about the fact that they’d discovered that Valentine had raised him under the guise of being Michael Wayland. Without their bond, Alec could only guess at how it was affecting his Parabatai. “Have the Silent Brother’s improved her condition?”

“Not yet,” Maryse said. “They’re still trying. I’m sure I’ll get a status report from them soon.”

They worked together for another half hour, the only sound that of the fire place crackling, her pen on paper, and his tapping of the stylus on the tablet. “Are we going to talk about it?” Alec asked when the silence became a burden.

She took a deep breath. “The words on your wrist, or the fact that your soulmate is a man, and a Downworlder.”

Alec swallowed hard, he wished he could reach out for Jace through the bond, borrow some calm, but there was nothing but that dark emptiness where a light used to be. “Dealer’s choice,” he replied, trying to sound unaffected, and a little frustrated when he sounded fearful instead.

“You’re-“ she paused, cutting herself off. She took a deep breath and set her pen aside, giving him her full attention, which put Alec even more on edge. Her dark stare glued him to his spot, and he couldn’t even fidget with the stylus. “You are _not_ worthless.”

“I know,” he said, barely even a whisper.

“I hate him for saying that to you.”

“I wasn’t very nice to him either.”

“I know, he showed me.”

“He’s not a monster.”

Maryse took a deep breath, and held it a few seconds before letting it out. “I know that too. He came in here with that note you wrote for Jace, and the Angel himself wouldn’t have been able to stop him from delivering it. He healed what he could, got help for what he couldn’t, and didn’t charge at all. He… he’s a good man.”

Alec couldn’t help the twitch of his lips. “Did it hurt to say that?” She gave him the cut-eye and he bowed his head a little.

“And you… you’re gay?”

He kept his eyes on the tablet, unable to even look at her when he nodded. He heard her blow out a breath, and then the tapping of her pen.

“The Clave will not like this.”

“I know,” Alec whispered. “It’s why I never…” He frowned, his heart racing. “I don’t care about what the Clave has to say about it. What do you have to say about it?”

The silence was tense and heavy between them. He could hardly breathe it felt as if his throat was closing, just like the walls.

“About your… preference, or the fact that your Soulmate is a Downworlder?”

“By our own lore, it is the Angel who blesses us with the Soulmate mark,” Alec couldn’t look at her, afraid of what he might find. There were few opinions he held in as high esteem as that of his mother. “The Angel gave me Magnus.”

She made a wounded sound, and he had to look up. She rubbed her temples, and stared down at her desk. “I don’t know, Alec, okay? The Clave will have a field day with this. It’ll be a scandal, it’ll reflect poorly on all of us Lightwoods.”

“I’m not asking about the Clave!” he snapped. “I’m asking you! It’s not like anything is different now. I’ve known I was gay since I was twelve! Everything’s just out in the open now!”

“What are you looking for me to say, Alec?” she asked tilting her head a little.

“I want you to say nothing has changed,” he begged, irritated to realize his eyes were welling up with tears. “That you still love me.”

“Oh, Alec,” the words fell from her lips on a sigh. “Of course, of course I still love you.” She took a deep breath. “I’m not sure how to deal with this. You are gay,” she said like she was testing the words out for the first time. “I think I need time to get used to that.”

It wasn’t an outright dismissal, or a scathing ‘get out,’ which Alec had been afraid of. He took a deep breath, able to swallow past the lump that had formed in his throat. “Okay.”

“And Magnus.”

“What about him?”

Maryse raised a brow. “What are you going to do about him?”

Alec shrugged. “I haven’t figured that out yet.”

Her thumb ran over the patch of skin that was a little lighter where her wedding band used to be. “You don’t have to be with your soulmate.”

Alec frowned, knowing his own mother’s pain. “I know.”

::

Soon after Maryse left for a meeting with some dignitaries from Alicante, Jace and Max came into the office. Alec was surprised at how relieved he felt the moment he saw Jace. He hadn’t realized just how tied up in knots he’d been until the tension went away.

“Hey guys,” he greeted, and then looked to his little brother. “How did training go?”

“It was alright,” Max said with a shrug. “Jace won’t let me use real blades.”

“For obvious reasons,” Jace said, taking Maryse’s seat. “I would like to keep from being disemboweled.”

Max’s chest puffed up at the compliment. When he looked at Alec, he rubbed the back of his neck. “So, how are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.”

“I heard you’re the one who broke the display case in the training room,” Max said, raising an eyebrow. “If you really were fine, that wouldn’t have happened.”

Alec glared at his brother. “I’m just out of practice.” Max didn’t look like he believed him. “Get showered,” Alec waved his little brother away. “We’re going to cook dinner.”

“I don’t want to,” Max said.

“Well I heard Izzy saying she was going to cook tonight-“

“Okay, okay,” Max said, suddenly buzzing with energy, bouncing on his toes. “Got it, mission critical, I’ll meet you in the kitchen in ten minutes.”

Jace stared at the door, clearly waiting until Max would be out of ear shot until he turned to Alec. “Did Iz really say she was cooking tonight?”

“Nah,” Alec smiled. “I just want something to do, and I hate peeling potatoes.”

Jace laughed. “Nice.”

::

Max had dialled the radio into some hip-indie channel where all the songs were either a hit or miss with Alec, however his brother seemed content enough, head bobbing to the beat while he peeled potatoes, and Alec was happy enough to have his kid brother around. They didn’t often get to spend much time together, Max was often trained in other Institutes with other kids his own age, Institutes which had specialists, and tutors. New York was a placement, not a school.

When Max was actually in New York, Alec still had to work, and then the only time he could really fit in with his brother was training. Isabelle liked to take Max around New York, show him all the best food places, the parks, the touristy spots, and the holes in the walls. Jace also tended to train with the youngest Lightwood, and when it came down to it, Jace was just better with Max- for Jace training was like a game, and for Alec a matter of life and death.

So, it was nice, to have his brother around doing something that wasn’t stressful, and simply being. Max finished the last potato, and looked to Alec. “What do you need me to do now?”

“Rinse them, and cut them up into smaller chunks if you want to eat any time tonight.” He pulled a pot out of the lower cupboard, slowly standing back up, the lacerations on his back still tight and uncomfortable. “Put them in this.”

Max took the pot, but looked up at him. “Shouldn’t you have healed by now?”

Alec wasn’t sure how to respond. He’d healed faster than he should have, the wounds had been pretty bad. Even with his angelic blood, even with his runes, even with the warlocks who’d healed him, he was still healing. Still, Max was right, at this point they were closing in on a week of healing. He wanted to protect his brother, but the kid… well, he wasn’t such a kid anymore.

“I asked a Silent Brother about it when they were in checking on Jocelyn,” Alec said. “He said that he’d seen it before, it’s kind of like an aftershock of the Parabatai Rune being destroyed. My body is used to the ebb and flow of energy from Jace, with it gone, it’s not really sure how to recover.”

“But you’ll be okay?”

“Yeah, my body will get used to it.”

Max nodded, and took the pot over to where he’d been prepping the potatoes. “I… uh, I’ve mentioned Dylan to you before, right?”

Alec checked the meat for the crust-less Shepherd’s pie, stirred it a bit, and covered it again. He tried to recall, but he and Max didn’t talk about much. “You went to school with him when you were at the Mumbai Institute?” Alec thought he remembered Max mentioning a Dylan when it came to a story about flooding the training room.

“Yeah, well, then I got transferred-“

“You’re at the Paris Institute now, aren’t you?” Honestly, it was hard to keep track. Students travelled to wherever the next level of tutors were. He’d been lucky in the sense that Hodge was a gifted tutor, and weapons trainer, and was cursed to never be able to leave the Institute, and thus he, Jace, and Isabelle had remained. With Max being so many years younger, he’d been sent off, of course, when Alec looked back now, he could also point fingers at the beginnings of his parent’s failing marriage. Max of course wasn’t just transferred because his skill set excelled what the tutor could teach, but because he’d been quite the trouble maker.

“Yeah,” Max put some water in the pot, and then put it on the stove. “And Dylan got transferred there a couple months ago.”

“You’re not going to flood the training room again, right?”

“How was I to know that the Heat Rune would be that powerful, or that the sprinklers were that strong?”

Alec bit the inside of his cheek and tried to keep from showing any sign that he was humoured by what had happened. 

“Anyway,” Max crossed his arms across his chest, a little mirror image of Alec. “Even when we weren’t at the same institute, we stayed in touch. He’s my best friend. We’ve been training together, now more than ever, and I just think… I thought maybe we would be good Parabatai.”

“Wow, that’s amazing, Max.” Alec felt pride and fear in equal measure. He knew how incredible it was to have a Parabatai, to have your soul synced to another, to feel the energy, to know the moves of your partner before they even made them. He also knew what it was like to have the gaping hole where that feeling once was.

Max took a deep breath. “We’re not platonic soulmates, I don’t have one, neither does he, but I still think we’re compatible.”

“It’s an incredible bond,” Alec said. “But it’s not something to be taken lightly. You’re both still twelve, he is the same age, right?” Max nodded. “You have time to explore if this is what you both want.”

“I haven’t asked him, haven’t talked about it to him,” Max rubbed the back of his neck. “I wanted to talk to you and Jace, to Dad, since he did have a Parabatai once.” His hand fell, as did his face. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought this up with you, I mean, after what happened.” His eyes went to Alec’s hand, and only then did Alec even realize he was holding over the spot where his rune once was. “It was insensitive.”

“I have to get used to it,” Alec said, his thumb brushing where the mark used to be. “It’s okay, Max. Ask whatever you want.”

“Knowing what you know now, feeling it gone,” Max pushed forward. “Would you do it again?”

Alec heard a sharp intake of breath, and saw Jace standing in the doorway, his hair still a darker blonde, wet from the shower. He kept his eyes on his Parabatai, rune or not. “In a heartbeat.”

“Not a single regret?” Jace asked, a little smirk on his face, but pain in his eyes that Alec could read just fine, even without the rune.

“Not one,” Alec said firmly.

Jace smiled. “The potatoes are going to boil over.”

Alec swore, and Max laughed.

::

Alec settled at the dining table. The Lightwoods were a rarity in the sense that they lived full time at the Institute. Students did when they were abroad, a few Institute heads did in the event that something happened during their off hours so they could immediately get a handle on things, but the Lightwoods only had a family home in Alicante. Given the distance, it didn’t make sense to go there every night, the time difference, and the fact they would need to use a portal- their Institute didn’t have a permanent one like Alicante did- made it pretty much obsolete. Their parents stayed there when they were on official business. Alec hadn’t been there in over five years.

Most other Shadowhunters lived off site. There were a few that decided to save their money, live in the residential wing, envoys also chose that route since they wouldn’t want to pay for short placements. While the Lightwoods lived in New York full time, and had for years, they stayed at the Institute.  Alec didn’t mind. In fact, he liked it. He had the option of training whenever he wanted, the library was full and quiet, and since there weren’t very many people who actually lived there, the facilities like the kitchen, and laundry rooms weren’t frequently in use.

It also meant that family dinner wouldn’t likely be interrupted by someone else coming in to cook. Jace already had a heaping helping on his plate. Isabelle set a pitcher of lemonade down- which Alec wouldn’t drink if you paid him. Max dug into his food, and made a pleased hum, giving Alec a thumbs up. Maryse, who’d come in late, looked pleased, and returned to the table with her own glass of water, giving the lemonade a frown. “Who cooked?” she asked.

“Max and I did,” Alec replied.

She looked relieved, and sat down beside Max. “It looks good.”

“Izzy made the lemonade,” Max whispered.

“Ah. Yes,” she eyed it, and Alec frowned at all the pulp in the liquid, making it somehow appear to be more of a solid. “I’m not surprised.”

Isabelle didn’t appear to notice her family’s reluctance to drink her concoction, and she poured herself a large glass. Alec frowned at the way gobs fell, splashing in the liquid. She took a large gulp, and turned to the side to spit it on the floor. Jace choked on his food while laughing, and Alec absently reached out to pat his Parabatai on the back. “You okay, Iz?”

She glared at the lemonade like it had told her that her dress was hideous. “I must have read the recipe wrong.”

“What did you do? Blend the lemon with the peel?” Jace asked once his airways were clear. “And not even well. There are chunks in it!”

Isabelle frowned. “I tried, okay!” She left the table for some paper towel to clean up the mess she’d made.

“Well, this shepherd’s pie is delicious,” Maryse said, in a clear, and forced way to change the subject.

“Thanks, Mom,” Max said. “You know, Dylan’s sister taught him to cook, and he’s been teaching me some stuff. Alec showed me how to make this, maybe I can teach Dylan!”

“Good idea,” Jace said, spearing another bite, only to nearly lose his grip on the fork. Alec followed his parabatai’s gaze to see his father in the doorway.

Robert shifted awkwardly. “Alec, good to see you’re up an around.”

“Uh, yeah,” Alec replied, unsure what to say, and feeling off balance. Across from him sat Max, and to his left, Maryse, and they both were looking over their shoulders at Robert.

“Dad!” Isabelle stood, greeted him with a hug, like nothing had happened, like their parents weren’t divorcing.

Robert hugged Isabelle, gave her a squeeze, and then a pat on the shoulder. “Did you cook this?”

“No, it was Alec and Max!” The relief on his face was clear to see, but then she continued. “I made lemonade.”

“She also spat out the lemonade,” Jace said in quiet warning.

“Will you be joining us?” Maryse said, surprising Alec. Her tone was cool, and professional. And he understood. She’d rather eat dinner with rattlesnakes, but would be civil- for the children.

Robert looked to the table, the empty spot beside Alec. “If you don’t mind.”

“I don’t,” Maryse said, looking at her plate, rather than her ex.

“I’ll get you a plate,” Isabelle said. “Take a seat.”

Robert sat down next to Alec, his big hand clasping his shoulder, and Alec hissed out a breath. His father quickly pulled his hand away, and Alec could feel the scathing glare his mother was sending Robert’s way.

“He’s injured,” Maryse snapped. “Surely you bothered to read the reports.”

“I’m sorry, Alec,” Robert said with barely there control on his temper. “And yes, Maryse, of course I read the reports, however, he should have been healed by now. It’s been a week.”

“And where were you?” Maryse asked. Isabelle set the plate down, and silently took her seat. “You’ve known he was injured, you knew the severity. Where. Were. You?”

“In Alicante. There was nothing I could have done here.”

Maryse slammed her glass down. “He is your son!”

“Enough!” Alec snapped. “You want to have this argument, take it to the office. Not here, and _not_ in front of Max.”

They both turned to their youngest who was silent, pushing food around his plate, never taking his eyes from his meal.

“Max,” Maryse said softly. “I’m sorry.”

Max shrugged. “I’m not really hungry, can I be excused?”

“Yeah, sure,” Alec said before his parents could say something like, ‘you’ve hardly touched your food.’ Alec would make sure his little brother ate something later, but it was clear the kid wanted to be anywhere but there. Max quickly walked out, not looking back.

“Look, I didn’t know you weren’t healed,” Robert said to Alec. “You should be by now.”

Alec finished chewing, washed it down with some water. “Well, I’m not.” He told his father what the Silent Brother’s had said, explaining to Robert what he’d already explained to Max.

Isabelle’s leg kept jumping, and she finally stood. “I’m going to check on Max.” She didn’t allow anyone the time to respond, her long strides assisted by six inch pumps got her out the door in seconds.

Maryse glanced at her watch. “I need to get my reports in,” she took her plate with her.

Jace just put another heaping helping onto his plate, ignoring the tension in the room.

“You had a Parabatai,” Alec said to his father. “How did you deal with the bond being gone?”

“My relationship with Michael was already strained when our bond was broken by my exile.”

Alec glared at his father. “That didn’t answer the question.”

“We hadn’t spoken in a while, months,” Robert picked up his glass of water, took a sip, set it down, all very slow, stalling for time. “When it was broken, I didn’t notice much. I’d put up walls, I didn’t feel him all that much anyway, so then it was gone, and I didn’t have to anymore.”

Alec glanced over at Jace, who froze under his gaze, with one cheek puffed up with food. He couldn’t imagine his life without Jace, and the bond being severed was beyond comprehension, a week later and they could still hardly deal with it. “How?” Alec looked back to his father. “How could it get so bad, what happened that you would actually become estranged from your own Parabatai?”

“It’s complicated,” Robert groused.

“I’m pretty sure I can follow along,” Alec replied with an edge of anger.

Robert sighed, ate a few bites, and finally put his fork down. “He… he confessed to me that he had romantic feelings. For me. His male parabatai.” Alec’s blood ran cold, and he felt Jace’s hand carefully placed on the side of his ribs, managing not to touch a single injury. “It was wrong on so many levels. It isn’t right. It goes directly against the Clave.” Robert reached for his glass of water. “I told him as much. We didn’t speak much after.” He took a gulp of the water, set the glass down hard. “When he died, I… I didn’t notice. Our bond had been neglected. The Clave however brought Jace to me. When you swear the Parabatai oath, it’s serious, it’s a commitment, and I let Michael down. But I could still do right by his son,” Robert’s eyes shifted to Jace, who glared in return.

“Yeah, you’re real good with commitments,” Jace said scathingly. “Come on, Alec.” Alec shifted, following the careful, guiding hands of Jace. The moment they were through the doors, Alec moved faster, his long legs eating up distance, and Jace nearly had to jog to keep up. “Woah, where are you going?”

“Anywhere but here,” Alec replied.

“This way,” Jace said, suddenly turning them into the stairwell. “The roof.”

This stairwell was complicated, it split off twice, and they followed the way that ended in a ladder. Jace climbed up first, unlocking the door, and shoving it up, and out of the way. He climbed out, and then looked down. “Can you climb?”

“I’m not an invalid,” Alec muttered, but climbing put tension in all the wrong places, aches and pains flared but he ignored them, the burn felt alright, like he’d been working out for an hour and making progress. He climbed out of the hole, and they had their own private section of the roof. No one ever used it, there was once an old power box out this way, but they’d moved it to a different, easier to access, section of the Institute when renovations were done ten years prior. Thus, no one came out here.

A year ago, when they’d started using this as their unofficial get away, they’d smuggled up supplies in a cooler that would protect them from the rain. Jace pulled out the thick cozy blanket, a pillow- which he tossed at Alec with a look that said, ‘use it,’- and a bottle of malt whiskey from what had once been their father’s office. There were other things in the cooler; a book that Alec favoured, a bottle of sunscreen, a pair of Isabelle’s sunglasses, and a few bottles of her nail polish.

Alec put the pillow down on the blanket, and sat on it. His back ached, but it was getting better. Jace opened the bottle, took a swig, and passed it to Alec. Usually, on principle alone, Alec declined. Instead, he took it from Jace, chugged a bit down, and set it between them.

“So… Robert’s a dick,” Jace said, taking a small sip from the bottle.

Alec ran his hand through his hair. “Of all the things that could have led to their fall out… I didn’t expect that.” He motioned for Jace to pass the bottle, and he did. Alec drank a bit more, and waited for the effects to kick in. “I love you,” Alec said. “You’re my Parabatai with or without the rune.”

“I love you too, Alec,” Jace said. “And with or without a rune, we’re still better together than any other set of Parabatai.”

Alec smirked, warmth sinking into his skin. “You and I will never be like Robert and Michael.”

“Never,” Jace promised, before taking another swallow, making a face at the taste. “So, when are you and Magnus going to talk?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you excited?”

Alec grabbed the bottle. “Whenever I think about us having that talk, I feel like I’m going to puke.”

Jace nodded. “Yeah, that sounds about right?”

“Seriously?”

“Felt the same way when I first started talking to Clary,” Jace confessed. “I was sure I was going to screw something up, say something stupid, and she’d walk away. But also, I was just so excited, because she was there, she was real, and proof that what Dad… that what Mi-Valentine had told me wasn’t true. To love isn’t to destroy. Being loved isn’t being the one destroyed. I feel stronger, steadier with Clary, and I think she feels the same being with me.” He grinned. “I was excited, and terrified, and I thought I was going to puke on those high heels Izzy was trying to teach her to walk in.”

Alec smiled, then frowned. “So, you really don’t have a problem with me?”

Jace looked outright offended. “By the Angel,” he said, exasperated. “Why would I have a problem with you? We established we’re the most amazing Parabatai to ever be Parabatai.”

“But me, being gay, my soulmate is a Warlock.”

Jace rolled his eyes. “You’re still the same Alec who nearly shot me when we first met-“

“That was an accident!”

“The same Alec who took the blame for me breaking the vase in the hall the first week I was at the New York Institute, the same Alec who showed me that to love isn’t to destroy, the Alec who made me hot chocolate, and sparred until I could sleep, and believed in me enough to give up part of your soul, and accept part of mine,” Jace leaned forward a bit. “You’re my best friend, my soulmate, my brother. If Magnus is your romantic soulmate, if he makes you happy, if he gives you the same feelings that Clary gives me, then why would I ever have a problem with that? You deserve the world, Alec.” He leaned back, and smirked. “And given a Warlock’s power, Magnus might actually be able to give it to you. Even if he was a total douche to you when you two first met.” He eyed the spot where Alec’s soulmark was covered by a cheap armguard, Jace had already ordered a new custom piece from Alicante, but it would take time.

“I called him a monster in return,” Alec said sadly, taking a sip from the bottle, and finally setting it down. “We must have the absolute worst soulmarks.”

Jace grimaced, then grinned. “They’re pretty bad.”

“You really don’t have a problem with it?”

Jace rolled his eyes. “Is this about what Robert said? Like I said earlier, he’s a dick. He should have respected his Parabatai, respected the oath. The feelings were clearly unrequited, and they should have dealt with it like adults instead of letting their bond be destroyed.” He took a swig. “I don’t have a problem with it. All I want is your happiness. If that is with Magnus, great. If it’s without Magnus, fine. Whatever makes you happy.”

Alec could feel the warmth, and fuzziness of the alcohol going to work. “Thanks, Jace.”

“Anytime.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're welcome ;)

**_Falling for him would be like cliff diving. It would either be the most exhilarating thing that ever happened to me or the stupidest mistake I’d ever make._ \- Hussein Nishah**

Magnus had a hectic few days. Between dealing with the death of Micah, explaining that to Ezekiel, as well as reassuring other Warlocks that it was a one-off, trying to keep up with clients, and his club-Pandemonium, Magnus hadn’t really had time to think about Alec, their soulmate marks, or what he planned to do with it.

He luckily had woken before Ragnor, who was still staying with him, so he could make the coffee. Ragnor’s coffee was killing his tastebuds. He put coffee beans into the grinder, frowned at it and the inevitable noise it made, and put the grounds on the filter before Ragnor walked in.

Before Magnus could even say ‘good morning,’ Ragnor spoke; “I want to take Ezekiel.”

“Where?” Magnus asked, slamming the top of the coffee maker down before remembering he still needed to put water in. He muttered a curse taking the pot to the sink to fill it up.

“No, I mean, I want to adopt him.”

Magnus looked over his shoulder to see that Ragnor’s shoulders were squared, like he expected a fight. He’d known the man a long time, Ragnor didn’t make rash decisions, it was likely the reason he’d stayed over at Magnus’s as long as he had. And who had the boy truly bonded with? Who did Ezekiel look to for permission? It might be Magnus’s house, but the boy more often than not turned to Ragnor for an extra cookie, or to ask for a movie, or to snuggle up with for comfort. Honestly, Magnus was a little pissed with himself for not seeing it before.

The water overflowed the pot, and Magnus turned back. He dumped a bit of the water, turned off the sink, returned to the coffee maker. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay,” Magnus repeated, pouring the water.

“I expected more of a fight.”

“Why? I know you. You’re good with him, and he clearly adores you. Right now, he needs stability, he needs guidance, and comfort, and I know you’ll give him all those things.” He put the pot on the burner, and started the machine. It made a little hissing sound before a gurgling one. “You already have been.”

Ragnor’s responding smile was softer than Magnus had seen it in years.

::

Magnus didn’t cry when Ezekiel left with Ragnor, and they all promised to visit. Ezekiel made sure Magnus promised to bring Alec to visit too. Too choked up with emotion to deny the boy, he nodded, figuring Alec was too sweet and would cave. He cried a little after they left though. The loft too empty, to quiet. He put on an old record, just to end the silence.

He grabbed a few books and set them back on the table. The more he researched the Platonic Soulmate bond, and the Parabatai bond, the more he thought it to be rather hopeless. A fools errand. Something he wanted so badly, one thing he thought he could make right.

But why did he?

He found it difficult to have so much old anger directed at the Shadowhunters (and a modicum of fear thrown in,) but still have these warm blossoming feelings for Alec. Alec who showed kindness, who gave strength, who admitted his mistakes and tried to make amends, who would sacrifice himself and that which he held dear to save another, who crawled into a blanket fort to make a warlock child happy. He didn’t have any anger left for Alec, not even with the words ‘you monster’ on his wrist. He didn’t have any fear either.  

A ping on his phone drew him from his thoughts.

**[Unknown] 10:02**

**_The Clave doesn’t have your number._ **

Magnus stared at the message and could only think of one person who would bother to message him but that didn’t explain… he quickly typed in his reply.

**[Magnus] 10:02**

**_And how did you get it?_ **

He waited, staring at the phone until another message swooped in.

**[Unknown] 10:03**

**_I know people._ **

**_Okay. Iz knows people._ **

With his suspicions confirmed, he saved the number and typed Alexander in the contact information. Another message came in while he did.

**[Alexander] 10:04**

**_Are we going to talk?_ **

**_If you don’t want to, that’s fine._ **

**_I get it._ **

**_Jklnm_ **

Magnus stared at the last bit, trying to figure out the acronym. He never felt older than he did when falling behind on whatever the twenty-somethings were doing.

A sleeping emoji.

He raised a brow. Then his phone started ringing; a call. He answered to some kind of scuffle, an argument. He recognized the female tone, but couldn’t make out the words.

“Give me back my phone Izzy!” Alec’s voice he recognized and placed.

“You are not wimping out now!” Isabelle shouted. Something shattered and everything went silent. “Oh, shit.”

“Was that my tablet?”

“Uh…”

“Fuck!” He heard some more movement. “How bad is it?” He cursed again- apparently pretty bad. “It still turns on.”

“Uh… Alec?”

Alec said something, but it was too soft or muttered for Magnus to hear it.

“Alec,” Isabelle’s voice was sharper now.

“What- oh, shit.” More noise, some static, then loud and clear; “Uh, hello?”

“Hello, Alexander,” Magnus replied, a little smirk on his face.

“Hi,” he replied a little breathlessly, and Magnus wasn’t sure if it was from nerves, or wrestling for the phone with his sister. Magnus could hear Isabelle in the background, her voice too quiet for him to pick up the words, then some shuffling, and then a loud noise that sounded like a door slamming. “Sorry.”

“About what?”

“Uh, all that. With-“ Alec huffed out a breath, took a deep inhale. “It’s been a few days since we talked, and you never sent a message or anything so I’m not really sure what you want to do with this, but Isabelle is insisting that there is like a three day rule or something, but Jace says that’s only if you’re dating, which we’re not, or not yet, or not at all, and I get it if you just want to ignore this, like, I won’t be offended or anything, I just wanted you to know that but Iz wanted to demand we speak, but it’s really none of her business but she tried to take the phone, and I’m just sorry about the whole texting mess, and whatever you heard of us fighting.”

Magnus hadn’t had a place to interject, in fact, he didn’t think Alec had taken a single breath in the entire spiel. “Well, I’m sorry that I didn’t get back to you. I _am_ the High Warlock of Brooklyn. I had to deal with the fallout of Micah’s death.”

“How is Zeke?” Alec asked, his voice soft.

“He’s doing as good as can be expected. Ragnor has taken him in. Zeke says you have to visit.”

“I will, if Ragnor is okay with it,” Alec replied. Magnus found himself surprised that he wasn’t surprised by Alec’s immediate response. The Shadowhunter hadn’t thought twice about visiting a Warlock child under the care of a prickly Warlock.

“He will be. I’ll join you, otherwise you’ll never get through the wards, but I think it best to let him settle in a bit first.”

“Okay.”

Magnus took a deep breath as he walked to the floor to ceiling windows. The sunlight made his glittery soulmark shimmer. “I do,” he said staring at the words. He couldn’t help but wonder if Alec was looking at his own.  “I do want to talk to you.”

Alec’s sharp breath put a shiver through Magnus’s spine. He couldn’t tell if it was surprise or relief. “Okay. Where and when?”

“You free for lunch?”

“Yeah, I can get away.”

“I’ll send you an address. Meet at noon.”

“See you then.”

::

Magnus tried on outfits. He discarded a few because they seemed too much like battle armour; rigid in construction, dark colours, too many layers. He discarded a few more; too light, too much on display, too vulnerable. A few more he threw to the growing pile for being too eye catching; too bold, too bright, he wanted to talk to Alec, not draw attention to them. He cast another outfit to the side; too plain, too boring, to unlike him that it felt like wearing a lie. Eventually he settled on a deep blue and gold patterned button up, a muted grey vest that toned it down, black jeans, and converse sneakers he hadn’t worn in ages. Fingers full of rings was non-negotiable, but he wore a single silver pendant.

He checked his reflection in the mirror, and found something missing. With magic swirling on his fingers, he threaded them through his hair leaving navy blue streaks that really only showed up in certain light. Perfect.

Checking the clock, he swore under his breath and summoned a portal to the alley outside of the quaint restaurant he was to meet Alec in. It was only two minutes after, but Alec was already there, sitting in the back corner, his back to the wall where he could keep an eye on things. He had a glass of dark soda in front of him half gone, so he’d been there a while, the wrapper from his straw shredded in a pile.

Their eyes met the moment Magnus came through the door. Alec looked good. His navy blue sweater made his baby blues look even brighter. His hair had been tamed a little. The smile was tentative, and Magnus found himself drawn across the room. He slid into the booth across from Alec. “Hello, Alexander.”

“Hi, Magnus,” Alec replied.

“Nice sweater.”

Alec looked down at himself, picked it away from his chest like he’d forgotten he was wearing it. “Isabelle chose it. She says black is for funerals, but that’s white so I don’t know what she’s talking about.”

“Mundanes,” Magnus replied.

“Oh.”

“It’s a good colour on you.”

“Uh, thanks?”  It was clear that Alec was not used to people complimenting him. He looked confused.

The waitress came over, and Magnus ordered a coffee, and they both ordered sandwiches.

“I don’t know how to do this,” Alec said, his thumb pressing against his forearm, brushing over the material of the sweater.

“We are romantic soulmates,” Magnus said. It was the first time he had said it out loud. It felt strange, saying it, looking at Alec, knowing what was written on their skin. “Is that something you want to explore?”

“I didn’t, at first, when I met you, when I woke up and _knew,_ ” Alec admitted. “I was so angry.”

“I’m sorry,” Magnus whispered.

“I know.” Alec gave a half shrug, brushing the words off, like that hadn’t been his point. “I’m sorry too.” That he said more like a reminder, there wasn’t any feeling in it. He leaned a little closer, and Magnus couldn’t help but lean in too. “I like you,” he said in a whisper, like it was a secret.

“I like you too,” Magnus whispered back.

Alec’s lips curved a little on the left, and it endeared him all the more to Magnus. “Okay, that’s good,” he sounded relieved, looked it too. “But I don’t know how to do this.”

“Do what?”

He pointed to Magnus, then back to himself. “This.”

“Dating?”

“Yeah.” Alec whispered back.

“You’ve never-“

“No.”

“Okay then.”

Alec glanced over at the salt and pepper shaker, then seemed to find his resolve and turned back to Magnus. “Is that a problem?”

“No,” Magnus couldn’t stop himself from whispering back. He wasn’t even sure why they were whispering, or why they kept leaning over the table, but he didn’t draw back, and wouldn’t raise his voice. “I’m a few hundred years old, so I’ve dated plenty. Is that a problem?”

Alec was quiet, still long enough to make Magnus want to fidget. “I don’t know,” he finally replied.

“Is there something in particular you’re worried about?”

“I don’t really know if there should be,” Alec replied. “Izzy broke up with one of her boyfriend’s once when they kept comparing her to their ex.”

“I won’t compare you to anyone.”

Alec nodded, but Magnus didn’t know him well enough to figure out if Alec believed him or not. Blue eyes then shifted quickly to the side and Alec leaned back, just slow enough to be casual. Magnus leaned back too, following Alec’s gaze in time to see the waitress weaving through tables with their orders. She set everything down, and left them to it.

They ate a little, but Alec soon choose to pick at his fries- which were soaked with vinegar to the point that Magnus wasn’t sure how Alec was even eating them. “Where’s your head at with all of this?”

Alec’s laugh was too bitter for someone so young. “I don’t know. I’ve always hated these marks. Dad is Mom’s soulmate, he isn’t hers. He found his recently, now Mom and Dad are divorcing.”

“I’m sorry.”

He shrugged, and tossed another soggy fry in his mouth. “Can we forget about the soulmate mark thing? Like instead of that being our starting point, can’t we just date? Like the mundanes do. They don’t have soulmarks to guide them.” He tilted his head back a little, scratching at the base of his throat where the stubble met his neck, and there Magnus saw the black line around his neck- guilt. Alec dropped his hand and their eyes met again. “We could just… I don’t know, hang out, see if this works. Is that stupid?”

“No, it’s not, it’s a great idea,” Magnus smiled at him. “I think that sounds wonderful.”

Alec smiled back, a little shyly. Seemingly his nerves were what had kept him from eating, and he returned to his sandwich with gusto.

::

Magnus watched as Alec glanced down at the handful of tickets in his hand. With a hand on the small of Alec’s back, he guided them past the booth, admission stamps on the backs of their hands. The soccer fields had been taken over by fairground games and rides. There were shrieks of delights from children, the scent of cotton candy wafting through the air, and bells and whistles from the games.

He glanced over at Alec, who’s shoulders had risen almost up to his ears, his eyes not staying on any one thing. Afraid he’d made his date uncomfortable so early in the evening, Magnus drew his hand away, and Alec nearly stumbled back a step without it. “Alec?”

Another alarm went off with someone winning, and Alec cringed at it. “Hold this,” he thrust the tickets into Magnus’s chest, and then stood close to Magnus, chest to chest. He pulled a stele out of his pocket, pulled up his sleeve on his right arm, and tried to get his left hand steady enough to trace a rune there. He botched it, and Magnus caught the scent of burning skin. Apart from a hiss, Alec didn’t show any sign of being affected. He tried again and got it, the dark lines sinking into a scar. Alec’s shoulders sagged and he shoved the Stele back into his pocket. He backed up, giving Magnus some space. “Sorry, Jace went a little overboard with the runes before I left since I refused to let him third wheel us.”

“What was it?”

“Awareness,” Alec said. “It was too loud, too overwhelming. And the little shit put it on my right side.”

“And you’re right handed.”

“I’ve done a lot of practice with runes with my left hand but I’m by no means ambidextrous.”

Magnus just tucked the tickets inside his blazer with his own set. “What would you like to try first?”

Alec looked around, this time his eyes could settle and weren’t overloaded with stimulus.  “I don’t know.”

“What’s your favourite ride?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Alec replied and Magnus turned to stare at him.

“What?”

“What?”

“Have you never gone to a fair, Alexander?”

Alec’s brow creased. “No.”

Magnus took a deep breath. It was a reminder that Alec was a Shadowhunter, a warrior- born and raised. Of course his parents hadn’t taken him out for a night of mundane fun. It made his heart ache. “I’ll show you everything.”

Magnus led them over to where some water guns were set up in a row. A few kids, and a few adults, and a teenager were already set up. “One dollar to pay,” the man behind the counter said.

“But we already bought tickets,” Alec said, confused.

“Those are for the rides,” Magnus said, passing the man two dollars. “Sit.” They sat next to each other, knees brushing. “Aim for the center-“

Alec’s eyes cut to him. “I know how a target works Magnus.”

“Have you ever used a water gun?” Magnus asked.

“Yeah.” Alec had a smirk that said there was a story behind his answer. One he’d have to get later, because the countdown had started. Alec was in the lead for most of it, but suddenly his aim went to the left, and the light over someone down the row went off.

“Daddy! Daddy I did it!” A little girl shrieked.

“Good job, kiddo, which prize would you like,” the man behind the counter said.

Alec stood hand’s in his pockets while he waited for Magnus. “Sorry I wasted your money, I was supposed to win, wasn’t I?”

Magnus raised a brow. “You messed up on purpose.”

“The kid had damn impressive aim,” Alec said glancing over at the little blonde with pigtails clutching a stuffed otter with unreserved joy. “It’s kind of unfair for me to even play that game. Especially since Jace put an accuracy rune on too.”

“How many did he put on you?”

“Basically the entire Grey Book,” Alec joked dryly.

Magnus laughed. “It was nice, what you did for the girl. Let’s find the darts.”

“You really want a stuffed animal?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Alec said with a shrug.

They did find the darts, and Alec insisted on paying, swatting Magnus’s hand whenever he tried to pay. First three nailed it and earned Magnus one of the small prizes. “But what about the big one?” Alec said pointing.

“You have to win five prizes and trade them in for that.”

“Oh, okay,” Alec replied. He then addressed the man behind the counter asking if he could just play them all in a row to save time.

“A little arrogant,” The man replied.

Alec raised a brow. “Not arrogance. I’m just good.”

“Whatever, your money.”

Alec grabbed the handful of darts, and even backed up a few steps. There were some families who’d stopped to watch. Some of the kids were shocked as Alec popped the balloons in such a way that it made a smiley face relief in those that were left.

“Smartass,” the man behind the counter said.

Alec played a few more rounds, never once missing. He then turned to Magnus. “You want that yellow thing, or the elephant.”

Magnus wasn’t even surprised that Alec was so behind on pop culture that he didn’t know what a Minion was. “The elephant,” Magnus replied.

Alec grabbed it from the man, and then thrust it into Magnus’s arms. “We should have played games last. How are you supposed to go on rides with this?”

Magnus just grabbed Alec’s hand, his mind reeling back to when they first held hands, and tightened his grip. Behind the game trailer, he looked around, but didn’t see anyone, magic rippled over the elephant and it disappeared.

Alec grinned. “Convenient.”

“Let’s get something to eat, and you can tell me all about whatever had you grinning about water guns.”

They had hot dogs and Coke, splitting a large order of fries between them- thankfully free of vinegar. “They were in the window of this store when we were, I don’t know, twelve I guess. Twelve year old Shadowhunters with years’ worth of allowance saved up. So, Jace and I went back with our money, bought three of the biggest water guns we could find.” He ate another fry before continuing. “Got them all filled up, and it didn’t really occur to us that they were an outside toy.”

“No,” Magnus said, his cheeks hurting from smiling so much.

“Yes,” Alec laughed. “Jace, Izzy, and I were running around with these massive water guns, and I mean, at the time, the gun Iz had was like half her height, and bright yellow and red.” He wiped tears from his eyes. “It only lasted like six minutes, but we wreaked havoc in the Institute. We ended up causing water damage to two of the computers, and broke a bust of some long dead Inquisitor. We were drenched, so were half of the hallways, and the kitchen where we kept filling up.” He laughed again. “I turned the corner thinking I was getting Jace, but no, it was Dad.” His mood sobered a little. “We got in so much trouble.”

“You were just kids being kids.”

“No,” Alec said softly. “We were Shadowhunters being kids.”

Their hands brushed near the fries, and Alec toyed with one of the rings on Magnus’s finger for a few seconds, before he grabbed a fry and ate it.

::

Magnus stumbled and grabbed the gate around the ride they’d just gotten off of. He felt Alec at his side, protectively surrounding his body, a tentative hand on his lower back, like Magnus had done with Alec earlier. “You said to spin the center.” 

Magnus took a deep breath, and looked over at Alec with a grin. “Strength rune?”

“Sorry,” Alec said again, but he was smiling.

Magnus stood straight up and then stumbled a few steps left due to his dizziness. Alec’s hand shot out and grabbed him. With Alec’s strong hands on his arms, keeping him upright, Magnus waited for the dizziness to fade. “We’re not doing the Spinning Strawberries again. Otherwise, I’ll be stumbling around here like I’ve been drinking Vodka since lunch.”

Alec laughed. “Okay,” he looked around, and then pointed at the Ferris Wheel. “That looks tame.”

Magnus huffed out a breath but took a few steps toward it, steadier. “It’s a classic.”

They stood in line for a while, finally getting onto the ride, it tipped back and forth with their movement. But the bar was in place and they were moving, slowly up a little as other riders got off and on. They paused a bit at the top while more riders were shifted, and Alec leaned forward suddenly, Magnus grabbed the bar, and Alec’s arm in a panic. “What are you doing?”

“Just looking down,” Alec said, but seemed to notice the panic and slowly sat back. The chair rocked a bit, but no more than normal. “Are you afraid of heights?”

Magnus huffed out a breath. “No, but I am afraid of falling to my death from them.”

“You wouldn’t fall to your death, you have magic,” Alec said with an eye roll.

“And how would you manage?” Magnus asked.

“If I fell?” Alec suddenly leaned forward, and Magnus grabbed the bar, and ‘soccer mommed’ him by putting his arm in front of Alec and pushing him back. Alec laughed. “There is a bar a few meters down, I’d have enough time to grab it, mostly because I’d probably hit it on the way down.” He smiled over at Magnus, completely unphased by the rocking. He looked down at Magnus’s arm, still across his chest. “But I have a feeling that would be completely moot. You wouldn’t let me fall.”

Magnus wondered if this was the soulmate bond solidifying, if they were so natural, and calm together because they were predestined, or if this was just them, Magnus and Alec. They stared at each other, the coloured lights casting beautiful shadows and colours on Alec’s face. Magnus found he didn’t care much either way. “I wouldn’t.”

“Good,” Alec said. He didn’t rock the chair the rest of the ride.

::

The utter darkness of the night only made the fair more magical, brighter with the flashing coloured lights. They went on the Salt N’ Pepper Shakers, twirling in a seat, that was also spinning around the large arms of the ride, bumping into each other as they were spun this way and that, both laughing like children, arms around each other since it was the only way to fit without being squashed.

Magnus held Alec’s hand, stumbling a few steps. “It’s not fair that you don’t get dizzy.”

“I do,” Alec said. “But I just recover fast.”

“You didn’t even stumble getting out.”

“I recover fast,” Alec repeated with a shrug.

“There a rune for that?”

“Sure-footedness,” Alec replied. He pulled up his sleeve, looking at the runes there, then shrugged. “He might have put it on my leg. Works better there.”

Magnus tugged his hand toward another food truck. “Got something for the copious amount of junk food we are about to indulge in?”

“Yeah, the gym.”

Magnus laughed. He bought two bags of cotton candy, some candy apples, a few caramel ones- since Alec had never actually tried any of it, much to Magnus’s dismay. Then a stick of fluffy pink cotton candy for them to share in the moment. Alec picked some off it and shoved it in his mouth as they walked through the games again. “That’s just sugar.”

“And it’s amazing.”

“And it’s amazing,” Alec repeated with a slight moan around the last word, that made Magnus flush. Alec picked a bit more off and then sauntered over to the strength test, some kid barely got it off the ground and was all flustered. Alec passed over the three bucks to play, slammed the mallet down while the child stared. The weight shot up, slammed the bell hard enough to leave a dent. Alec then asked the kid which toy he wanted. The kid pointed to the one-eyed Minion and Alec just nodded.

“That was so kind,” the boy’s mother said, nudging her child. “What do you say, Ben?”

“Thank you! That was so cool! You’re so strong.”

The woman smiled, and put her hand on Alec’s bicep. “Very strong,” she said.

Alec looked distinctly uncomfortable as he stared at the hand for a second, then back to the woman. “I have to get back to my date, excuse me,” he walked the few feet back to Magnus, and grabbed his hand. “You want any more of these stuffed toys?”

Magnus just smiled up at him, long enough that Alec’s skin started to tinge pink. “What?”

“You’re really sweet, anyone ever tell you that?”

Alec practically cringed. “No. I am not. I am a Shadowhunter. I’m not sweet.”

“So sweet,” Magnus insisted, picking off some cotton candy for himself.

“Am not,” Alec muttered starting to walk again.

“Are too.”

They paused a bit at a coin game, they both flipped quarters into the rotating fish pond. Magnus’s splashed in the water, and then hit off one of the plastic fish. Alec’s aim remained true, but the fish kept closing their mouths, coins bouncing off their plastic faces. “I guess we lost,” Magnus said with a shrug, picking the bags of candies back up.

“I’m not being beaten by a plastic aquarium,” Alec muttered. Alec rifled through his pant pockets, then his jacket ones, until he found one last coin. This time he watched the plastic fish. “There isn’t a pattern, it’s random, or the pattern is too long.”

“It’s a children’s game.”

“Which makes it worse that I’ve lost it three times.”

Magnus rolled his eyes fondly. Alec flipped the last quarter, the fish closed its mouth at the last minute. “Damn it!”

“Come on you,” Magnus guided Alec away.

Alec glared at it over his shoulder. “It’s rigged.”

Magnus beamed. “Of course it is, Darling.”

Alec blushed, but didn’t say anything as Magnus tossed the paper cone that had been stripped of cotton candy. Once out of the grounds, and away from anyone’s view, Magnus summoned a portal, and they walked through hand in hand. They exited in an alleyway a block down from the Institute for privacy’s sake.

“That was… fun,” Alec said, sounding surprised by the last word, but a large smile on his face said that it was a good surprise.

“I had a great time with you, Alexander,” Magnus replied. “I’d like to do it again.”

“Me too,” Alec replied, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, biting his bottom lip.

“Well then, I’ll call you, and we can figure out another time.”

Alec took a deep breath, his eyes going to Magnus’s lips, then back to his eyes. “Okay.”

They stared at each other, the silence not overbearing but intense. With his free hand, Magnus slowly reached up, fingertips grazing against the side of Alec’s neck, his prominent Deflect rune. He gazed at Alec’s lips when his tongue came out to wet them. “Tell me if I’m reading this wrong,” he said, shifting infinitesimally closer. 

But Alec shifted closer. “You’re not.”

Lips brushed, timidly at first, but it wasn’t long before Magnus had his hand tangled in Alec’s hair, lips frantic, Alec’s hands clenched around the lapels of his jacket, pulling Magnus closer. Magnus found himself lost in it, for being- what he figured was- Alec’s first kiss, it was mind blowing. Alec kissed as he did anything else, with absolutely everything he had. A hand snaked around Magnus’s waist, then shot up his spine pressing between his shoulders, bringing them chest to chest.

A low groan left Magnus lips at the strength and feel of Alec. The bags dropped forgotten to the ground, and Magnus’s free hand grabbed Alec at the hip. They drew back enough to look each other in the eye, to pant against each other’s lips before they were locked together again. He didn’t even realize he was moving until he had Alec backed up against a brick wall- and that was enough for him to draw back, to loosen his grip on Alec’s hair, it curled back down to his neck, to his chest, his eyes never leaving Alec’s lust blown ones.

“We need to slow down,” Magnus said, needing to be the one in control of this, because Alec clearly wasn’t.

Alec blinked a few times. “Is… was that okay?”

Magnus chuckled. “Okay? That was amazing,” he put a moan into the last word- like Alec had after eating Cotton Candy for the first time.

Alec grinned. “Yeah?”

Magnus nodded. “Yeah. But that isn’t usually how one kisses another goodnight after a first date.”

Alec’s grin faded.

“Relax,” Magnus said. “Every couple is different, and I definitely prefer our way.”

Alec made a pleased little humming sound. “How about you show me the usual way.”

Magnus chuckled, but rocked up on his toes just enough to fix the slight height difference between them, especially since his shoes were so flat, while Alec’s combat boots gave him an extra half an inch. Their lips met sweetly, a few slow brushes of their lips before he pulled back.

“I like that way too,” Alec said with his eyes still closed.

And in that moment, Magnus knew he’d handed this young man all the means in which to destroy him. After only one date, his heart and soul was owned by one Alexander Gideon Lightwood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hell-atus is almost over!!! We're almost there, lovelies <3


	21. Chapter 21

**_Whilst kicking and biting, love develops_ \- Welsh Proverb**

 

Naturally, Isabelle ambushed Alec the moment he was inside the Institute, locking her arm around his and guiding him back to his room where Jace already was waiting.  “Spill,” Isabelle demanded, flopping down on his bed next to Jace.

“No,” Alec said stubbornly, shrugging out of his jacket. “Get out.”

“What’s in the bag?” Jace asked, twirling his stele around his fingers.

“Candy.” Alec opened it. “Kind of.”

“How is it kind of candy?” Jace asked.

Alec gave a half shrug. “It has an apple in the middle.”

Jace cocked his head to the side. “Why?”

“Not sure. Haven’t tried it yet.”

“Well, open it,” Jace demanded.

Alec worried that he was going to crack a tooth biting into the candy apple. Sweet and tart, and sugary. “That’s good.” Isabelle made gimme hands and he passed it to her. They ended up passing it around with the caramel covered one too.

“So, how was the actual date,” Isabelle said, wiping a bit of the red colouring from her lips.

“Good.” ‘Good’ didn’t sound like a glowing review, but Isabelle got all soft and mushy on him, and he knew his face must have said what his words didn’t. “We went on rides, and played games, and it was just… a lot of fun.”

“Did you kiss him?” Isabelle asked.

“That is none of your business.” He could feel his face heating up.

“That’s a yes,” Jace said with a big grin. “How was it?”

Alec hid his face in his hands. “Amazing.”

While his siblings were little shits when they wanted to be, they weren’t mean. They were both happy for him, and told him as much before they bid him goodnight.

Alec hadn’t told them about the cotton candy still in the paper bag. Thankfully they hadn’t noticed. He wanted it all for himself.

::

Despite being fully healed, Alec was still delegated light duties. He knew it wasn’t personal, nor was it a move out of nervousness from his mother, it was simply a way of letting him get back into the swing of things, of ensuring he really was ready to be back in the field. He still did his training; hand-to-hand in the morning with Jace, seraph blades in the afternoon with Max, and specialized weaponry in the early evening with Isabelle. He worked on some case files, looked up information, trying to build a better case against a Seelie who’d tricked a human earlier in the year.

It bothered him to see Jace and Isabelle leaving in the night, but he knew he couldn’t do anything about it. This was what they were trained to do.

He tapped at his tablet, trying to ignore the three major cracks that ran through the screen after it fell from his night table when he and Isabelle had been fighting over his phone. A movement to his left caught his attention, and it was Max pulling over a chair and sitting with him in the Command Center.

“I go to Paris tomorrow,” Max said.

Alec felt himself deflate a little. He’d gotten used to Max being around, and it hurt to know he’d be leaving again so soon. “Ready to get back to your studies?”

“I guess,” Max said. “I mostly just want to see my friends.” He shifted in his seat a little, only a few runes on his young body, no massive scars yet, no littering of thing white lines from old runes. No Soulmate rune yet. “So, Izzy said you were on a date.”

Alec rolled his eyes. “Yes, so?”

“Was it with your soulmate?”

Alec’s heart fluttered, and his hands tightened on the tablet. “Yes.”

“Was he nice?”

“Yes.”

“What did you guys do?”

“We went to a fair.”

“What’s that?”

Alec remembered the pained look that had crossed Magnus’s face when Alec told him he’d never been to a fair. He now understood. It had been so much fun, and exciting, and full of noise, and sights. And his baby brother had never been either. “I have pictures,” Alec said conspiratorially. He pulled his phone from the pocket of his jeans, typed the password away from the prying eyes of his brother (because while he trusted all of his siblings with his life, they were little shits) and then brought up the photo gallery.

He’d taken a few snaps on the way through, despite the fact that he would deny being sentimental. In the background of one of the photos was that damned fish game, and he explained to Max that it was rigged. The Ferris Wheel was mostly just a blur of light to his phone, but it looked pretty. Then there was one selfie that Magnus demanded they take when Alec had pulled his phone out to check the time.

Alec couldn’t help but stare at it. He never considered himself to be unhappy with his life, and there were many moments with his siblings that he could look back on where he smiled, and laughed so hard his eyes watered, but had he ever looked _that_ happy? And for _that_ long? The entire night had been nothing short of magic, and the smile of the Warlock standing beside him had suddenly become everything.

“That’s Magnus,” he said to his brother, and it felt oddly liberating to actually say it out loud. “That’s Magnus Bane, and he’s my soulmate.” When he looked up at Max, Max wasn’t looking at the picture, but at Alec with a big goofy grin on his face.

Max lightly punched Alec’s arm. “I’m happy for you, Alec.”

He pressed the button on the side of his phone, and the screen went dark. “Thanks, Max.”

::

Alec stood in the Infirmary, Clary to his left, and Brother Enoch drew the privacy sheets around Jocelyn’s bed. The long robes dragged a little, and he stood before Alec. Clary shifted a little, but remained silent.

 _We have tried everything._ Brother Enoch’s voice echoed a little in his skull. _There is nothing more we can do._

“But-“ Clary started, and stopped once Alec’s hand came to rest on her shoulder.

“Thank you for your assistance, Brother Enoch,” Alec said. “We appreciate it.”

The Silent Brother nodded, then passed by them, leaving the Infirmary.

Under his hand, Clary shook, she then shrugged him off and whirled on him. “There has to be something!”

“They tried everything, there isn’t anything more then can do. You being disrespectful to the Silent Brothers won’t change that.”

“She is my mother, Alec!” Clary snarled. “I’m not giving up!”

“I didn’t say give up, now did I,” he chided. While she still irritated him with her behaviour, overall he respected her devotion to her family- that was something he understood. “I’m saying there is nothing the Silent Brothers can do.”

“What are our other options?” Clary asked.

“Earlier, a Silent Brother mentioned a potion.” His hands clasped behind his back. “They think that is what is keeping Jocelyn asleep.”

“So, we need a Warlock?”

Alec nodded, almost excited for the excuse. “I’ll talk to Magnus.”

::

Alec had called, and Magnus had insisted he come over for dinner and they could discuss. Which naturally put Alec into a tailspin, was it just business, or if they had dinner did that mean it was a date? He went to Isabelle, figuring while she’d probably make him change his clothes, she would at least have advice, unlike Jace who would probably just shrug, and tell him to ‘go and find out.’

Isabelle said something about business and pleasure that Alec didn’t want to contemplate, and as predicted, she made him change into a form-fitting t-shirt, and a pair of jeans that didn’t have a burn through the side.

“Why do you even have those?” she’d asked.

“They’re comfy,” he’d replied.

With his light leather jacket, he was fine for the walk/streetcar ride over to Magnus’s. He stepped back out onto the street, and kept vigilant as he walked under the streetlights. He had Magnus buzz him in, and in the hallway, Magnus greeted him with a quick kiss that burned with promise. “Come on,” he tugged Alec by the hand. “I hope you like Italian, I was feeling in the mood for some pasta. It’s been ages since I made Ravioli from scratch, and who doesn’t love garlic bread?”

Alec was practically salivating. “Sounds great.” He pulled off his jacket, hanging it on the rack by the door, and followed Magnus into the kitchen that was a few degrees warmer than the rest of the gorgeous loft.

“Wine?”

“Uh, sure?”

“Red pairs best with this sauce,” Magnus said, stirring the sauce. “But do you have a preference between a Merlot and Pinot Noir?” Magnus looked more at home, and at ease than Alec had ever seen him, even at the fair. Alec thought it had something to do with the lack of layers. The purple and gold shirt was a little loose, flowy, glinting in the light, the jeans weren’t too tight, and the entire ensemble made him seem casual, approachable. Magnus looked over his shoulder, a soft smile on his lips. “Earth to Alec?”

Alec felt his ears get warm, and knew they were red. “You choose. Wine pairings aren’t exactly in my expertise.”

Magnus’s eyes dimmed, the smile slipping away. He cleared his throat, and looked away. “The Pinot Noir then, if it’s all the same to you. I’ve got a few bottles.”

“Magnus?”

The man looked back at him, putting the sauce on simmer. He approached slow, and too Alec’s hand tentatively, like they were put back on square one before the ease of touch that came with the sugar high, and excitement of their first date. Magnus turned his hand, and Alec understood. His forearm exposed, and he hadn’t gotten his new arm guard in yet. Magnus made a wounded sound as he brushed his hands over the letters.

Alec turned his arm so the words couldn’t be seen. “Hey, we’re past that. I’m glad to be here, with you.”

Magnus glanced up at him, smiling just a little. “And I’m happy to be here with you. Have you been to the aquarium that opened in Manhattan?”

“Uh, no?”

“Excellent,” Magnus said, turning away and pulling a few wine glasses from the cupboards. “I was thinking maybe for our next date, you’d like to go.”

Alec honestly couldn’t care less about looking at some dumb fish in tanks, but the opportunity to spend some time with Magnus was too much to resist. “I’d like that.”

Magnus opened a little wine fridge, and pulled out a bottle. “Ah, from before you were even born-“

“Sure you should be sharing that with my palate?” Alec raised a brow. “Last time I had wine, it was from a box.”

Magnus feigned offence, then laughed. “Heathen!”

They chatted amicably throughout dinner, which was incredible. Alec actually moaned around the first bite, and had then had the most awkward deer stuck in headlights look in response to the wide-eyed, slack jaw gaze of Magnus. They got past it, and Alec stubbornly made no more sounds while eating, but demanded that Magnus teach him how to cook it some time.

“Date three, for sure,” Magnus had agreed, and Alec warmed at the thought of them looking forward a bit, planning their dates.

“Now,” Magnus swirled his wine, their plates in the kitchen sink. “You seemed to have a little business we should attend to.”

“Jocelyn,” Alec replied, sipping his wine. The first glass had been a little rough, his experiences with alcohol were mostly chasing intoxication, not sipping for the sake of taste or enjoyment. The second glass he warmed to the flavours a bit. “The Silent Brothers found evidence of a potion, but can’t do anything to reverse it.”

“Odd.”

“What?”

“Just that Jocelyn trusted me to take away her daughters memories, but I wasn’t the one to make that potion, I’m not even sure what potion it is. There are a dozen or so that could give these effects.”

“So, you know how to reverse it?”

Magnus tipped his hand back and forth. “Depends. A few of them, sure. Some others I could figure out. A couple more would be… difficult if not impossible. The thing is, sometimes the magic that creates is the only one to destroy. I can run some tests, see what we’re dealing with.”

“I’ll talk to my mother about compensation.”

Magnus bit his bottom lip, worrying it a bit. “Don’t, not until I know if I can help or not. It doesn’t feel right to charge to run some tests when nothing might come of them.”

“Well, thank you.”

Magnus grinned. “So, what kind of movies do you like?”

::

They had intended on watching a movie on Magnus’s Netflix account, but instead, they ended up pausing it for snacks, only to keep talking. Their positions mirrored each other, a foot tucked under a knee, facing each other on the couch, knees touching.

Magnus told him about a potion that backfired and turned his skin blue for a week. In return, Alec told Magnus about the time he had snuck out with his siblings to see the fireworks on New Year’s Eve. Magnus told stories of Peru, and Alec told stories of hunting demons.

Their fifth glasses of wine brought Magnus’s soft confessions of; ‘I was afraid I’d never find you, and I was afraid of wanting to,” and Alec’s; “same.”

And when their lips touched, fingers gripped, and Magnus leaned back, dragging Alec down with him, Alec fell a little more hopelessly, deeply, headfirst into love.

::

Magnus didn’t get to see Alec when he showed up to run tests on Jocelyn. Instead, Jace was there to meet him at the front door. “Hello, Magnus.”

“Jace,” Magnus eyed him suspiciously. “I expected Alec.”

The Shadowhunter shrugged, as if it was expected. “Alec is getting tested.”

“For what?” Magnus asked worriedly.

Jace grinned, turned on his heel and beckoned him inside. “Don’t fret. He has to prove he can handle himself in the field again after those injuries.” He ran a hand through his hair. “He had a hard time getting back into things.”

“But he’s healed.”

“Yeah, physically,” Jace turned down the hall, and kept step with Magnus, walking with him, not leading. “Do you know how much strength, and how many muscles are involved in pulling back the string of a traditional bow? I mean, there is a reason a lot of Shadowhunters use a crossbow, or at least a compound bow. He’s been a little shaky there, and he’s not happy about it, which naturally means he’s pushing himself, and in general being a complete pain in the ass- I digress,” he sighed. “He’s healed up, but it’s been weeks away from his bow, and its showing in his form.”

“Do you think he’ll pass?”

“Yeah,” Jace said, as if it were foolish to even ask. “He’ll be hurting after, I figure, but yeah, he’ll get through.” He pushed open the door to the Infirmary. “Clary?”

The sheet around Jocelyn shifted, and the little redhead beckoned them inside. “Thank you for coming, Magnus.”

“Don’t thank me yet, I don’t even know if I’ll be able to help.”

“I’m going to see how Alec’s doing,” Jace said, kissing Clary’s temple as he passed. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”

Clary huffed out a breath.

::

Alec and Jace were sitting on the front steps of the Institute when Magnus and Clary stepped out. Alec smiled up at Magnus, his water bottle dangling between his fingertips. “Hey,” he stood, then remembered he was covered in sweat.

“How did it go?” Jace asked, standing too.

“Good,” Clary said with a hopeful smile.

Alec raised a brow.

“I need a few ingredients,” Magnus said, answering the unasked question. “But I think I’ll be able to reverse the potion.”

“That’s great,” Jace said with enthusiasm, wrapping Clary up in his arms.

“And how did it go for you?” Magnus asked, looking Alec over. “Heard you were getting, what, recertified?”

“More or less,” Alec said, he threw a roguish grin at his Parabatai. “And I’m back on the roster.” Excitement thrummed through his veins. Shadowhunters weren’t built to be idle. He’d felt powerful with his bow back in hand, the Seraph blade glowing bright as he took on three to one, and while he ended up pinned in the hand-to-hand, he had held his own for long enough, and when paired with his weapons work, he was deemed fit for duty.

The doors to the Institute opened, and Maryse’s stood above them. “Inside. Now. You three need to be briefed.” She then looked at Magnus for a long minute, then nodded her head in his direction before returning indoors.

Clary’s eyes were wide, and a little fearful. “Looks important.”

“Must be,” Alec said, he turned toward Magnus. “See you soon.”

Magnus nodded, Alec wanted to kiss that worried look off his face, but instead, followed Jace and Clary inside.

::

Magnus didn’t like it.

He didn’t like it one damn bit.

And he knew it was wrong not to.

So he tried to be okay.

And failed.

“Stop brooding,” Catarina said, her arms crossed.

“I’m not brooding. I do not brood,” Magnus replied.

Catarina rolled her eyes, but deposited the last ingredient he needed on his work table. “You’re brooding. Is it because of your Shadowhunter?”

Magnus hated the wounded sound that escaped his lips. “What am I doing, Cat? I build up walls around my heart after Camille, and I mean, he didn’t even take them down piece by piece, I didn’t have time to adjust, he just came in with a wrecking ball and, and, and,” he ran his hands down his face. “We made out on the couch. He never had Cotton Candy before me, and now has a wicked sweet tooth. He told me stories of when he was a kid. He’s so good with Zeke! Cat! He does things-“ he made strange hand motions in front of his stomach-“to my insides.”

Catarina smirked. “Sounds like love.”

“I know,” he whined, dropping his head down to his work table. “He’s going back into the field. It wasn’t something I had to think about before, because we weren’t… _this_ , not back when he was hurt, and now we are, and all I can think about is… is finding him bloodied and broken. You saw him, how he was after and-“

“Breathe,” Catarina’s hands were rubbing his shoulders.

He looked up at her. “He’s my soulmate.”

All the breath left her lungs, and she dropped down onto the stool beside him. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” he laughed, a little hysterically. “Yeah. It’s too soon, isn’t it, to be this in love?”

Catarina shrugged. “You’ve been waiting for him a long time.”

“It’s so weird to think that he left his mark on me over a century ago, and he’s like, what? Twenty five?” Magnus frowned. He didn’t actually know.

“You were finally ready for love, for a soulmate.”

Magnus pulled up his sleeve. “What a way to prove it.”

She frowned at the words. “You know I had a soulmate, back in the twenties.”

“Yeah.”

“And then he died. Took till the seventies for that mark to fade away, I loved him so, held onto his memory so close after he died.” She tugged the collar of her scrubs to the side and displayed navy blue letters, Magnus’s eyes were a little glassy, and by the time he got to focussing, she’d let her shirt fall back into place. “I’m ready now. These marks, they might be harder on Warlocks, because they come and they go with our mortal loves, but they always seem to know the right way, even when we don’t.”

“You might have to wait ninety years to meet him.”

She smiled. “He’ll be worth it.”

Magnus brushed his thumb along the words Alec left behind. Yes, regardless of the words he’d left etched on his skin, he’d been worth the wait.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Easter!

**_Do what you feel in your heart to be right- for you’ll be criticized anyway_ \- Eleanor Roosevelt**

 

A full week passed. Magnus kept in contact with Clary, the potion had to be done under a certain moon phase, and there were different phases of the potion as well, the base had to sit for twelve hours before he could even begin adding other ingredients. Honestly, it was overly complicated, but necessary. In that time, he shut down his loft to clients, friends, and even Alec. He couldn’t afford someone messing up the very time sensitive, and volatile potion.

That didn’t mean he was happy about it, but accepted that there was nothing that could be done. When the potion was finished, he called Clary who’d gotten choked up over the phone while thanking him. She promised to meet him outside in five minutes to give him access to the Institute, and her mother.

Magnus held the thick glass vial, summoned a portal, and stepped through. On the street, he looked up at the Institute, at Clary who stood at the top dressed in hunters gear, her red hair pulled into an elaborate braid that had Isabelle’s influence written all over it. As he climbed the steps he realized that her jaw was badly bruised. “What happened to you, Biscuit?”

“It’s been a rough few days,” she said grimly. “We’ve had increased demonic activity all over the city. That’s what Maryse called us in for last time I saw you.”

“That was a week ago,” he said.

“It’s been a long week,” she confirmed, motioning for him to come with her. “Everyone is on edge.”

They had to get through the command center, but Clary paused at the threshold, not hard to see why when there was a small crowd gathered around two arguing men. One of them turned and stared at Magnus and Clary for a minute before pointing. “This is what I’m talking about, parading some warlock through here. Don’t you remember Iris Rouse? That demon she had raping mundanes in the basement? The mundane you let die?”

“First of all-“ the voice snapped, face turning toward them for just a second, long enough for Magnus to realize that was Alec.  “That is High Warlock Magnus Bane, whom you will show respect toward.”  “ _Secondly,_ ” he raised his voice, and stressed the word when the other man dared to even open his mouth. “He was requested to be here, and is being compensated for a job we could not complete without him. “Third-“

The man’s eyes narrowed on Alec. “What?” he snapped before Alec could continue. “You think we should just show him respect ‘cause you’re bending over for him?”

Alec might as well have been slapped for the reaction it had, a step back, the shock on his face clear even from Magnus’s less than great perspective. Clary’s hand on his bicep kept him from interfering. Not that he would have had the chance. Not when Jace took three steps out of the crowd looking ready to murder the guy, but Alec didn’t even look, he just put his arm out and stopped Jace from moving- despite their lack of a rune, it appeared they could still predict each other.

Alec took one step toward the other man. “I’ll give you one chance-“

“You think your little date went unnoticed?” The man asked, clearly not taking Alec up on mercy. “Someone saw you two looking quite cozy in a little café. What, is he your soulmate?” The man taunted, foolishly. Magnus could see the calculating nature of Alec’s anger, not manic like he had been while in search of his injured Parabatai, this was the kind of anger that could do true damage.

“So what if he is?” Alec said.

“Bad enough you’re with a man, worse that you’re with a Warlock.”

Alec shrugged like the words didn’t sting. “And too bad your wife has been screwing half of Alicante, including your brother.”

“You son of a bitch!” And then fists were flying. Magnus could hardly keep up, Shadowhunter speed vs Shadowhunter speed. Their vicious attacks had the crowd backing up to give them space.

Alec got hit a few times, that was easy to see, the way he’d stagger a second before deflecting a follow up blow. A punch connected with Alec’s jaw which sent him back a few steps, but he used it to his advantage, the space allowing him room for a roundhouse kick that sent his opponent into a desk. Alec stalked over like a predator, and slammed the man’s face down on the desk, and held him there. Whatever Alec said to him was too low for Magnus to hear, and he doubted that the crowd heard it either.

“What in the Angel’s name is going on in here?” Maryse’s voice boomed through the command center.

Everyone dispersed, Alec released the other man, Jace still looked livid. The man said something to Alec, loud enough that Jace heard if the blonde’s sudden shift was any indication, but once again Alec held his brother back. The man walked away, and Alec glared at the retreat.

“Come on,” Clary whispered. “We have to give this to Mom.”

Magnus didn’t want to. He wanted answers. He wanted to comfort Alec, and heal the red marks before they sunk into bruises, but Alec was with Maryse and Jace, so he followed Clary through the halls. They paused, the man that Alec had been arguing with stood in front of the Infirmary doors, and Clary sighed, there were multiple ways to navigate the Institute.

“No. No fucking way. I’m not dealing with your kind,” the man spat, hands balled into fists. “And those brats should have been killed, it would be better.”

Clary stepped in front of him. “Did Alec knock a screw loose with you when he kicked your ass?”

“Don’t antagonize, Biscuit,” Magnus warned in a whisper. “I can’t use magic in here, not without getting in trouble with the Clave.” He could use magic in the Institute to ward, or to perform other tasks when _requested_ , when the proper forms were filled, and only then. Using them to attack a Shadowhunter? That was just asking them to take him into custody.

“You’ve been a Shadowhunter for a few months. You don’t know anything yet. Just wait until you spend a few years cleaning up the messes of Downworlders, until you’ve given the final rites to your loved ones-“ he paused looking past them.

Magnus risked the look, and found Jace stalking down the hallway. “You don’t know when to quit, do you Dave?” Jace didn’t wait for a respond as he stormed past both Magnus and Clary. He sucker-punched Dave in the gut and followed it up with a knee to the face. “Alec is a really great guy, has morals against fighting dirty- for some reason- unfortunately for you, I don’t.” He crouched down in front of Dave with a devil-may-care smirk. “And if you’re thinking about saying something to _Mom_ , go right ahead, tell Maryse all about how you’re harassing the High Warlock of Brooklyn, and her eldest child.” Jace smiled down at Dave with a certain amount of glee. “Go ahead, do it, see how that goes for you.”

Dave held his nose, shifting to get upright, using the wall to get back to his feet. “Maybe I won’t talk to Maryse. Maybe I’ll talk to the Inquisitor. See what she thinks about Alec Lightwood’s relationship with Magnus Bane.”

Jace’s face fell a little at that, and Dave walked off. Clary stepped up to Jace, her hand between his shoulder blades. “Who is the Inquisitor? And why do you look so afraid?”

“Inquisitor Imogen Herondale,” Jace whispered. “She’s not known for leniency.”

“Leniency? Why are you worried though?” Clary asked. “Because Alec and Dave fought? Can Shadowhunters even get in trouble for that?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jace forced a smile. “Let’s go wake up your Mom. Go get everything ready,” he ushered her to the door, and she was distracted by the task. He looked at Magnus and frowned. “Look, I want you to know I support Alec, and his relationship with you.  I think you’re good for him.”

“Uh, thanks,” it was unexpected, but touching. Magnus understood just how much Jace’s blessing would mean to Alec.

“So don’t take it wrong when I say don’t come around the Institute for a while. Not for anything.”

“I do have contracts here-“

“Not for anything. Not until I know the fallout of this.”

“While it is frowned upon in your culture to be gay, it isn’t punishable. Right?” Magnus said, now getting worried.

“Not officially punishable. And with Maryse being in charge, she won’t pull him from the field and shove him into weapons cleaning, or give him suicide missions-“

Magnus let out a rough breath. “Shadowhunters do that?”

“Not officially, and not in any capacity that can be proven, but rumours,” Jace shrugged. “Same thing with being with a Downworlder. Loyalties come into question. I don’t think anything can happen officially. And I seriously doubt the Inquisitor would waste her time over such a matter.” He chewed on his lip and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“But…”

“Past few months have been rough. You know about Iris Rouse, right?”

Magnus nodded. “It’s abhorrent what she’s done. I had to find houses and parents for those poor children.”

“Have you talked to Alec about that incident?”

“No, why would I have?”

“He and Isabelle were first on scene. He still carries it with him. So do a lot of other Shadowhunters, she shook everyone up.” Jace sighed. “Tensions are at a high again, and there are more Shadowhunters who think like Dave. And now that your relationship with Alec is out in the open, don’t give them more ammunition.”

Magnus shook his head. There were many times in his life where he lived closeted, the area he lived, or the time being too unforgiving. It was strange to think he’d have to keep his love quiet to protect it. It was different though, everything was in the open, but Jace was right. Flaunting it in front of Shadowhunters would only cause more problems for Alec. “Okay.”

“It won’t be forever,” Jace said. “Alec is a force to be reckoned with when he wants to be, but you need to let him deal with this.”

“You’ll have his back,” Magnus said.

“Always,” Jace replied.

Magnus nodded, then waved the vial. “Better wake Jocelyn.”

::

The arrow flew across the room and sunk into the center of the target. The next sank in an inch to the left, and the next and inch and a half to the left. Each arrow perfectly spaced on the targets circles, and in a straight row.

“Nice shooting,” Clary said behind him.

Alec lowered his bow. It had been days since Jocelyn had been woken up. The first day Jocelyn and Clary had just remained together, catching up on everything from finding her soulmate and discovering the Shadowworld to the death of Valentine. The day after, they’d left the Institute to see Luke. He heard about this from Jace who heard it from Clary. It was the first time he’d seen her since the day they’d woken Jocelyn.

“How’s your mom taking things?”

“As well as could be expected.” She stared at the ground. “Apparently the Inquisitor is coming to see her. You know, since she was Valentine’s wife.”

He didn’t like empty platitudes so he didn’t give her any. “You going to be joining the hunt tonight?”

She nodded. “Yeah, Maryse said I had enough time with my mother. That I have to do my duty.”

“We’re supposed to be having back-up coming in from other Institutes before the days end,” Alec said. “These demonic attacks are unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

“That’s comforting,” she replied dryly.

“We’ll be fine, Fray,” he said. “Just keep Isabelle to your left, you always leave it open.”

She rolled her eyes, but it was accompanied by a small grin. “Alright, Alec.”

::

The sent backup had assisted the Shadowhunters in keeping the demons at bay, but there were more injured than there were beds in the Infirmary by the end of the night. Isabelle laid in one of the beds, Jace was in the bathroom stitching up the wound in his side, too deep for the Iratze to heal without a little help. Alec had gotten through relatively unscathed. He had Clary sitting on his bed while he carefully pulled glass shards out of her skin with tweezers.

“We can’t keep doing this,” she whispered, the hissed as he wiggled a bigger shard trying to get it out of the muscle it had embedded itself into.

“Sorry,” he said. “I have to get it out though.”

“I know.” She breathed in through her nose, then out through her mouth. “There are more demons, every night, aren’t there.”

“Yeah,” Alec replied, finally getting the shard out, he tossed it in a glass with the rest. “Not just more, but there are more powerful demons coming out too.”

“I could talk to Luke. He could get the werewolves to help us-‘

“Clary-“

“You could talk to Magnus. If we work together-“

“We don’t work together. We never have,” Alec said.

“But-“

“Downworlders, in general, don’t trust Shadowhunters,” Alec said, working on another shard of glass. “And Shadowhunters, in general, don’t trust Downworlders.”

“We’re fighting a losing battle like this.” Clary stared down at the tweezers Alec wielded. Another shard shifted out of flesh, and he put it in the glass with the others. With the alcohol wipe, he wiped off the blood so he’d be able to get a good grip on the next shard. “We need to try.”

“The Clave is sending more reinforcements,” Alec said. Not that he believed they would help.

Jace stepped out of the bathroom with a patch of gauze over where he’d stitched himself up. “You’re not wrong Clary, the problem is, is that they’d never work with us.”

“Luke would,” she said.

Alec bit his bottom lip. “Magnus might.”

“Maryse probably won’t like this,” Jace said.

“Izzy’s in the Infirmary, and we can’t keep fighting like this.” Alec looked at his Parabatai, he hadn’t even noticed when Jace got injured, didn’t know that Jace fought for another hour with that deep scratch in his side. He looked back to Clary, and pulled out the final shard of glass from her arm. “We have to change the tides in our favour.”

::

Alec had managed a few hours of sleep through the morning, and got up around noon. He showered, which he’d been too exhausted to do after the fighting, and patching Clary up. In the mirror, he realized how bad he looked. There were dark circles under his eyes from the lack of sleep he’d been getting. He had bruises all over the place, and a couple of scratches. His muscles ached from the days and days of fighting. He activated his Iratze and got dressed.

He made his way to Magnus’s, while he knew Clary and Jace were going to see Luke. After gaining entry through the lobby, he took the elevator to Magnus’s floor, and found the man waiting for him at the door.

A weight he hadn’t noticed on his chest lifted, and his lips curved into a smile on their own accord. “Hey.”

“Hey, come in,” Magnus led the way, and shut the door behind them. “Would you like anything to drink?” Alec declined and they sat in the living room. “What brings you by?”

“Surely you’ve noticed the increase of demons around.”

“Mostly because I’ve been monitoring the situation,” Magnus replied. “You Shadowhunters are doing an impressive job at keeping them back.”

Alec rested his elbows on his knees, he stared at the strange abstract object on the glass coffee table. It was easier when he wasn’t looking at Magnus, getting distracted by the golden glitter in his hair. “We won’t be for much longer.”

“What do you mean?” Magnus asked, shifting in his seat, their knees touching.

“It just keeps getting worse,” Alec said, barely above a whisper. It bothered him to admit that the Institute couldn’t handle it. The Institute he served, the one he’d lived nearly his entire life in. “Not just how many demons are showing up, but they’re more powerful demons getting out too. Yesterday there were completely unclassified demons. With wings. Winged demons. Here, in New York.” He rubbed the back of his neck, and leaned back, his head over the cushion. “Isabelle is in the Infirmary.”

“Is she going to be okay?” Magnus asked, fingers threading with Alec’s.

“Yeah. The Silent Brothers say she’ll be well enough to fight again tonight.”

“Isn’t that too soon?”

“Probably,” Alec closed his eyes, remembering how shallow his sister’s breathing had been while he’d carried her away from the battle. “But even with more Shadowhunters coming in from other Institutes, it isn’t going to be enough.” He opened his eyes to find Magnus’s shining with concern. “I guess we’ll have to postpone our second date. Unless you find fighting demons to be an acceptable dating event?”

Magnus’s eyes narrowed but his lips curved a little. “Depends, will we get breakfast after.”

“Probably not, at the rate we’re going it’ll be a session of either stitches, or runes.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Would… would the Warlocks help us?”

“Warlocks in general? No.” Magnus’s hand tightened. “But I would.”

Alec smiled weakly. “Clary is asking Luke about the werewolves. I wouldn’t dare talk to the vampires. Or the Seelies.”

“I’m sure Simon would be convinced,” Magnus tilted his head. “I might be able to talk Raphael into it.”

“I don’t even like asking you. It’s not your job.” Alec stared up at the ceiling. “I don’t like the idea of you getting hurt. We wouldn’t be able to do anything for you. I’d have to call Catarina. She’d kill me. Maybe I’d call Ragnor, but I don’t think he’s any less likely to murder me if I let anything happen to you.”

Alec felt Magnus’s finger under his jaw, grazing against his neck, it took a few passes for Alec to realize that Magnus was tracing the guilt mark. “What happened?” Magnus asked, his voice soft, like he was afraid of the answer.

“I made a mistake.” His breath caught for a moment in his chest as he thought of the mundane woman’s broken body on the ground. “It cost a mundane woman her life.”

“You did everything you could.”

“You don’t know that,” Alec said, exhausted. “You weren’t there. I didn’t tell you the details.”

“You don’t have to,” Magnus replied. “I’ve been getting to know you, and I do know one thing for certain. You’d blow up the very ground you stand on to make something right. If you could have saved that woman, you would have.”

Alec let the words course through him, he opened his eyes, and sat back up straight. “Thank you.”

Magnus bit his bottom lip, chewing it a moment. “That fight you had with Dave the other day, is that going to be a problem for you?”

“Dave? Probably,” Alec rolled his eyes. “It’s not unmanageable though.”

“Are you going to get in trouble for being with me?”

Alec sighed. “No. There really isn’t anything they can do. Jace told me that Dave threatened to go to the Inquisitor, but she’s a busy woman, and there isn’t actually an official rule against me dating neither a man, nor a Downworlder. Besides, you’re my soulmate, and Shadowhunters take that particularly seriously.”

“But Dave-“

“Is an asshole,” Alec finished off. “He’s older than me by at least two decades, but he’s ranked far below me. I’m next in line to run the Institute. He’s a foot soldier with an alcohol dependency and an unfaithful wife, so I’m not worried.”

“Jace told me to stay away from the Institute, at least until things settled.”

Alec took a deep breath. “Look, if you’re there, and Dave causes a problem- if any Shadowhunter causes a problem, do what you need to, and I’ll take care of it.”

“Seriously?” Magnus raised a brow.

“I’ve been thinking, and then over-thinking, if Isabelle is to be believed, that you’re my soulmate. And I’ve spent so much of my life hating these marks, and what they mean, and the lack of choice, but now… now I don’t think of it like that. There is a choice.” He looked at Magnus. “And despite how we met, despite the words we first said to each other, I choose you. And I know that I’m going to choose you again, and again.”

“Alexander,” Magnus whispered his name with reverence.

“I know Warlocks get multiple marks. But Shadowhunters, we don’t. We’re one and done. We fall hard, and fast, and with everything we have. You’re my soulmate, Magnus Bane.” Alec’s hand cupped Magnus’s cheek, thumb brushing away a tear. “Frankly, I don’t give a damn if Dave doesn’t like it.”

Magnus made a strange little hiccupped laugh, and pressed his lips against Alec’s. Alec couldn’t help but grip Magnus’s shirt in his fists, holding on tight, and drinking Magnus in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aline shows up in the next chapter, and I'm excited :D Getting close to this story linking up to Bracelets and Bra Straps!


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is paired with chapter three of Bracelets and Bra Straps. There are a few overlaps where Aline is concerned. It doesn't matter if you read this one, or chapter three of B&BS first.

_**It's the terror of knowing** _   
_**What this world is about** _   
_**Watching some good friends** _   
_**Screaming let me out** _

**-Queen (Under Pressure)**

 

Despite the fact that Alec had been on the edge about asking for his assistance, and despite the fact that Jace told him to back off until they knew how this fall out of Alec being out of the closet, and dating a Downworlder would go, Magnus showed up outside of the Institute just after dark. Shadowhunters mostly ignored him as they dispersed with their teams in full gear.

Alec and Clary came out of the Institute, and down the stairs. Alec made a beeline for Magnus, and Magnus couldn’t help but smile at him. “Hey,” Alec said once they were together.

“Hello, Alexander,” Magnus replied. The tight black clothes curved around all the right places, and Magnus definitely approved. Suddenly, a night of battle sounded like a good time, especially if he got to watch Alec move in this ensemble.

Unashamed, Alec greeted him with a chaste kiss, and smiled at him, fingers gripping around his belt loop. A gentle tug, and they were flush against each other, the next kiss was anything but chaste. There was a liveliness about Alec that hadn’t been there before, a jolt of energy, a spark. When he pulled back slow, Alec’s eyes were still closed. Magnus enjoyed the blissed out expression before those blue eyes pinned him to the spot. “Hey.”

“Hello, Alexander,” he purred.

The man’s eyes were alight with mischief and energy. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” Magnus noted there were a few Shadowhunters lingering, watching them. Some had expressions of disgust, a few were neutral, and a few had sly smiles on their faces.

“You know, Alec, I didn’t know coming to New York would give me both free dinner _and_ a show,” a female voice chimed in.

Alec turned and beamed. “Aline!”

She laughed as she was hugged tightly, Alec having to bend substantially due to their height difference. “It’s good to see you!”

Alec pulled back and reached out for Magnus, who took his hand. “Aline, this is Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn.”

She raised a brow, mischief curving her lips. “And that’s how you greet High Warlocks around here?”

“No, but it is how I greet my boyfriend.” Alec looked to Magnus after the statement, like he expected the Warlock to classify them as something else, but Magnus just felt that strange fluttering in his gut, and couldn’t school his features into anything less than a blinding smile. “And Magnus, Aline Penhallow.”

The young woman was likely between Alec and Isabelle’s age, she had a sweet smile, and didn’t appear to have any worries about the fact that her old friend was dating a man, and a Warlock. “A pleasure to meet you,” he said, taking the risk by extending his hand.

He hadn’t a reason to worry, she took it without hesitation, a strong grip and callused hands.

“Wow,” she said, looking elated, and confused at the same time. She glanced away, then back. “I hope we have a chance to catch up, but I’m with that squad over there, I have to go.” She smirked. “Happy hunting.”

They watched her go, and Magnus glanced at his boyfriend. “She seems nice.”

“Aline is great. We saw each other more when we were children, played together in Idris. We see each other from time to time, but nowhere near as often as we used to.” Alec spotted someone at the top of the stairs and waved, motioning them closer.

Magnus turned to see who, and saw Isabelle coming down the stairs with her signature whip, a blade on her hip over leather pants, and a bustier that gave her already ample cleavage a lift. “Clary managed to get Luke to agree along with Maia, another one of his wolves. _And_ she talked to Simon, he’s going to be helping as soon as the sun fully sets.”

Alec’s brows shot up. “That’s… impressive.”

Isabelle laughed. “Don’t injure yourself Alec.”

He glared at her, then turned in the direction of the setting sun. “Come on, we need to get into position.”

::

Technically speaking the team was supposed to be Alec, Jace, Clary, Isabelle. Instead there were two teams. Alec found himself keeping close to Magnus, shooting arrows, while Magnus’s magic danced around them, Isabelle was on the front line with both whip and blade. Magnus found there to be something missing, something wrong in his companion’s fighting patterns. They downed the demons, and had a bit of a breather between waves.

“I expected you two to fight better together,” Magnus risked saying. There had been a few close calls.

“Hey, I was in the Infirmary until an hour before sunset,” Isabelle snapped.

“And you’re used to working with Clary now, and keep leaving your right side open,” Alec said, checking his quiver.

Isabelle’s eyes narrowed on her brother. “Oh, like you’re one to talk! You leave your left side open all the time-“

“I’m an archer, I have no choice but to leave my back left open-“

“- just you’re lucky enough to have Magnus on it tonight. And you’re-“

“-I’m not the one who decided to change everything-“

“-keeping back, and I’m the only one up here-“

“- _I am an archer, Isabelle.”_

“Yeah, well, we need our dualist.”

“And our swordsman.”

She frowned, and he ran his hand through his hair.

“Well, they’re on the other side of town, aren’t they,” Magnus questioned.

A click-growl noise welled up. “New plan,” Alec said shouldering his bow, and pulling out his blade. “Keep back, and keep them from surrounding us,” he said to Magnus, who nodded. “Iz, on my left.”

“I got you, brother.”

Magnus watched as the siblings crouched a little, and Alec looked a little too pale when he turned to look at Magnus stationed further down the alleyway. He heard Isabelle ask if Alec was alright.

“Didn’t go so well last time we fought together,” Alec said quiet, but just loud enough to hear.

And Magnus realized that it had been Alec and Isabelle together in the alley the night Alec had been near-fatally injured, the night they met.

There wasn’t time for comforts, not when the skinless demons walked awkwardly on all fours, nothing but dark, slimy muscle, and bits of bone. Only two at first. Then four. Then- “Iz, retreat!” Alec shouted. “Now!”

She backed up, keeping her blade at the ready. Alec held them at bay with an arching slash before taking a few steps back himself. Magnus blasted out with magic, and while it knocked them back, it didn’t ultimately do much damage.

“What the hell are those things?” Isabelle shouted.

“Magnus keep them pushed back!” Alec ordered as he and Isabelle kept moving backwards, and toward Magnus.

He flexed his magic pushing, keeping up a wall between them and the demons. They were ferocious, and powerful. He quickly found his magic being depleted with the strength required to keep them back. “Alec, I hope you have a plan!”

With the distance, he pulled out a few arrows, drew some small rune on them each. “My arrows will go through the ward, right?”

“Yes, but I can’t hold this much longer,” Magnus said, crouching slightly, keeping his palms out pushing against the beasts that pushed right back.

With bow in hand, the arrow notched, he let one fly, the arrowhead burst into flame sliced through the skull of the demon, lighting it ablaze from the inside. It crumpled to the ground, burning, sending the stench of burnt flesh and rot into the air. Now the arrows flew in quick succession, Isabelle pulling them from his quiver, putting runes on more of them, and passing them over to her brother.

The demons were finally all down, and in the lull they caught their breath. Magnus let the ward fall, and stared at the demons, a great deal of fear swelling in his gut. Whatever had raised those beasts which tested even his magic was a great evil indeed.

::

Magnus returned home in the early morning hours, before the sun was even up. Isabelle insisted that Alec go along with him for a minor demon scratch. His body wouldn’t be able to heal it very well, and he wouldn’t be top priority for the Silent Brothers after such a night.

Once inside the door, Alec leaned back against it. The poor young man looked exhausted. “Let me take a look at that wound, and we’ll get you some sleep.”

“I should be writing the report.”

“Isabelle says she has it, you trust her, don’t you?” It was playing dirty, but playing Alec’s loyalty would sooner get him healed and rested.

“Of course,” he muttered, not resisting in the least when Magnus pushed his hands under the shoulders of Alec’s thick leather jacket. Of course, it had been undone, and so his abdomen had been left vulnerable, not that the leather would have done much in the way of protection anyway.

Pushed from his shoulders, and down his arms, Magnus grabbed the coat and hung it on the rack. “This way,” he led the man by the hand into the bathroom, and left him standing. He grabbed the first aid kit from under the sink, and pulled out a few antiseptic wipes. Alec didn’t so much as wince as Magnus cleaned out around the wound from the dirt, and grime, and sweat that came with fighting demons.

Cleaned, he took a good look at the wound, not wanting to heal it with something still inside. “Ragnor called me earlier today,” he said conversationally, while he got a pair of tweezers to move a bit of something that wasn’t _Alec_ from inside the wound. “Ezekiel is settling in nicely. Ragnor’s only complaint is that he’s had to get a television, which required him to get a cable box, which required him to have some mundane in his house to set it up. He still has no idea how to use the thing, so it’s stuck on cartoons all day because Ezekiel won’t change it to anything else.”

He pulled out the bit of plastic? He turned it this way and that, it didn’t actually seem to be a broken bit of a talon or anything, thankfully. Instead, just something from the ground. With a frown, he threw it in the sink, and wiped away more blood. He looked up to see Alec’s eyes closed.

“Am I hurting you? I’m trying to be gentle-“

“I’m fine, Magnus,” Alec replied, opening one eye. “Just, throw a Band-Aid over it or something, I would kill something for five minutes of sleep.”

“Ironically, it’s killing things that have kept you from sleep.”

Magnus touched the edge of the wound, his magic weaving its way along the inflamed lines, knitting together the muscle underneath, working up to the skin. After the shallow wound closed, Magnus took another wipe and cleaned away the rest of the blood.

Given that Alec looked about ready to just pass out while leaning against the counter, Magnus knew the man wouldn’t manage a shower. He led Alec down the hall and into the guest room. He released Alec’s hand so he could turn on the bedside light.  “I hope you’ll be comfortable here.” He turned in time to see Alec more awake, his back ramrod straight.

“It’s fine,” he said. “Thank you.”

Magnus lifted a brow. “Are you sure, because you don’t look even remotely comfortable.”

Alec rubbed his neck. “Yeah.”

 _Bullshit._ Magnus’s feet drew him right into Alec’s chest. “It’s not good to start lying so early in a relationship.”

Alec practically whined. He then dropped his head to Magnus’s shoulder. “I woke up here-“

“Oh, Alec,” Magnus hadn’t thought about it. This had been the room he’d healed Alec in, the one Alec had woken up in after he’d died a little. “I’m so s-“

“It’s fine. I’m just tired. It’s no big deal.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. We’ve done the sorrys.”

“You can take my bed, I’ll sleep here.”

“I’m not kicking you out of your own room.”

Magnus raised a brow. “We could share.”

“We could.”

And they did.

Alec was lights out before Magnus had even gotten his makeup taken off. In a t-shirt and boxer briefs, Alec managed to be curled up far smaller than a man of his size should be. Magnus pulled the blankets on Alec up a little to protect him from the cool air coming in through the open window. For a long moment, he just watched the young man sleep, and with joy in his heart, he couldn’t wait to wake up with Alec with messy bed-head.

Magnus slipped under the covers, and fell to sleep.

::

Magnus was wrong. Alec was not a tall creature that got all tiny when he slept. The ball of Alec was just a trick to lull him into a false sense of security. When Alec had stretched out his long legs, that had been fine. Unused to sharing a bed, it had woken Magnus, when Alec’s foot had grazed his calf.  After another half hour, Alec had turned a bit, his elbow digging into Magnus’s ribs, and so he’d moved over a bit to give Alec more room.

Wrong move.

Now Alec was star-fished on the bed, and Magnus had a sliver of space near the edge. The man was a menace.

Alec’s phone rang, and it woke the man from a dead sleep. He looked disoriented, and Magnus shifted to gain some bed space back. Alec grabbed his phone from the bedside table, and answered it before it could ring a second time.

“Hello?”

“Alec, I need help,” the woman on the line was so loud that Magnus could hear it. The fear in her voice sent a shiver down his spine, and he sat up. It was familiar- Aline, the woman he’d met before the hunt. “I don’t know where I am!“ Alec was out of bed, the phone pinched between his shoulder and his ear as he pulled on the pants from the day before. “And there is an injured Shadowhunter with me. Helen.”

“Okay, I’ll have your phone tracked,” Alec said. Despite being dead to the world a moment ago, he was wide awake now, and all business.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about missing last weeks update. Got nailed with the last (it fucking better be the last) ice storm of winter (even though it's Spring. I'm bitter. So bitter.) Power was spotty, I was miserable. I'm going to try and get the next chapter of (Chapter 4 ) of Bracelets and Bra Straps out mid-week, timeline wise it would overlap with this chapter.

**_Love is friendship set on fire_** - **Jeremy Taylor**

 

When Alec finally sat down on the side of his bed, he let out a long breath like he could empty himself completely, starting with his lungs. When he sucked in a breath it came with the scent of blood and ichor. There was no, and would be no denial of what he was; a Shadowhunter, a warrior to his core.

His hands were coated in the blood of Helen. _‘Her name is Helen, her name is_ Helen,’ Aline had said with increasing panic when he’d arrived, and then he’d caught sight of Aline’s soulmate mark and understood. Before even leaving Magnus’s loft, he’d called his mother, ensured that the Silent Brothers would be waiting for them when they reached the Infirmary. Magnus had done what he could but between levitating the woman so they wouldn’t jostle her wounds by carrying her, and portalling them (again) he couldn’t do much in the way of healing.

Magnus had left immediately after.

Alec went along with a large group of hunters who used the sunlight to their advantage before going underground to kill the things that had attacked Helen and Aline, also in search of the other members of the hunting party. They killed most of the demons, able to retreat to sunlit patches where the manhole covers had been removed. They knew from Aline’s brief report that the creatures were blind, but had incredible hearing. Having the numbers, the hunting party cleared the area before noon.

And now, back in his bedroom, Alec felt strangely untethered. He’d never felt so restless within the Institute’s walls. Pushing off the bed, he stripped down on the way to his ensuite bathroom. The mixture of water, blood, and ichor swirled around the drain as the hot water beat down on his aching muscles.

As much as he would love to stay under the hot spray, he washed up quick, and turned the water off. With everything going on, he didn’t have time to deal with personal matters, and frankly if he stopped to think about them, he’d drown.

He quickly dressed into his default suit since he had a meeting with his mother and a few Clave officials. Black pants, white shirt, black blazer. Done.

Only three steps out the door, and Isabelle grabbed his arm. “You’re with me.”

“I have a meeting.”

“No, it was cancelled.”

“That sounds like bullshit.”

“Your presence was no longer required,” Isabelle said with a hint of distain.

“Ah, that sounds less like bullshit,” Alec said. He also figured the words were softened. “So, which member of the council hates me?”

“You mean which members of the council are prejudiced pricks?”

“However you’d like to say it,” Alec replied.

Isabelle huffed out a breath. “Blackwall, MacAdams, Lovelace, Penhallow.”

“Aline’s mom?”

“Yeah.”

Alec thought of the words Aline kept hidden, and rubbed the back of his neck. What a mess. “I’m going to the meeting,” he decided all at once. It felt like electricity under his skin. If they had a problem with him, they would have to say it to his face.

“I was afraid you’d say that,” Isabelle said, straightening out her blood red dress as they turned the corner. In front of the door to the meeting room was Jace and Clary.

“What are you two doing here?” Alec asked.

Jace just raised a brow, his eyes shifting from Alec to Isabelle who gave a little _‘what can you do’_ shrug.

“We’re standing by you,” Jace said, looking distinctly uncomfortable in a suit. “Let’s get this over with so I can put real clothes on again.”

Alec walked in first, Jace close to his left side, even though this wasn’t a physical battle, they still moved like the warriors they were trained to be. They still moved like Parabatai, and that kept Alec calm. Isabelle and Clary stepped in, flanking them.

“I thought we said he was unnecessary for these proceedings,” Philip Blackwall said with a cool glare in Alec’s direction.

“You said it, I didn’t,” Maryse said, leaning back with a cool and calculated glare. “He is the Interim Head of this Institute in my absence. He belongs here. More than that, he’s someone who’s actually been out in the city fighting while all this has been going on.” The _‘unlike you’_ remained unspoken but heavily implied.

“He’s an abomination unworthy of wearing the Angel’s marks,” Lisette MacAdams seethed, glaring at Alec like he was worse than the demons they fought.

Of course, Daniel Lovelace just nodded, which was unsurprising, they were notably cowards. There were hardly any of the family left- not deceased in battle- like most of the lost Shadowhunter families, but those who decided to live as mundanes instead, the thought of the fight too heavy for them to bear.

Jia Penhallow looked more on the edge of things. She certainly didn’t look like she approved of his life choices, but she also saw the worth of the warrior and the fact that as Maryse had said, he had firsthand experience in this mess they were currently battling, something no one else at the table did. “You four have fought since the demonic attacks have increased,” she said, seeming more comfortable talking to them as a group, and ignoring the glares of the others.

“Yes,” Alec replied.

“The reports,” Jia tapped a manicured finger on the folder in front of her, “they say that there are unidentified demons out there, is that true?”

“I’ve been going on missions since I was twelve, and I’ve spoken to veteran hunters, and no one has seen some of the species of demons that have come up.”

“Are they more powerful?” Jia asked.

Alec nodded. “Yes.”

Her eyes left Alec and looked to Jace. “Yes, they’re more powerful,” Jace said, his voice low and angry.

“I can’t believe you’re actually speaking to him,” Lisette said to Jia. She then turned to Maryse with dark eyes. “What if your _son_ is involved in all this?” The way she said son, like an insult, like something vile made Alec tense up.

The pencil in Maryse’s hand actually snapped at the comment. The room went dead silent. Maryse slowly planted her hands on the table then stood. “Are you seriously trying to accuse _my son_ of being part of this madness?” Alec let out a breath, the way his mother said ‘my son’ like something precious, something to be protected, and cherished made him stand a little taller.

“He is with a Warlock!” Lisette replied, slamming her hand on the table. “You can’t tell me that doesn’t look suspicious.”

“Magnus hasn’t done anything wrong,” Alec said, unwilling to let this council drag his boyfriend’s name through the mud.

“He’s a monster,” Lisette said with a snarl.

The grounding pressure around his wrist kept him from striking out, Jace’s fingers remained.

“He’s a Warlock,” Jia said sounding every bit as conflicted as she looked. “There is also no grounds to be accusing him of anything. In fact, he helped a Shadowhunter today, probably saved the woman’s life. Now, Magnus Bane is not the reason we came here today, let’s stay on topic.”

::

Still in his suit, unwilling to waste time changing, Alec banged on Magnus’s door. It took a minute for Magnus to open the door, but when he did, Alec’s entire speech fizzled and he just stared at the bare chest, eye trailing lower to the grey sweatpants which hung low on Magnus’s hips. It was so odd to see Magnus looking so casual, hell the man was barefoot, a little toe ring on his second toe on the left.

“Hello, Alexander, what brings you by?” Magnus asked, taking a step back to let him in.

Alec walked in, took a second to rearrange his thoughts. Something must have shown on his face, because next thing he knew Magnus sighed. “What happened?”

When he struggled to find the words, he just tossed his arms out to the side, so clearly done that Magnus snickered.

“There was a meeting with a few members of the Council. Obviously they’re concerned about the increase of demonic activity here in New York.”

“Any idea why it’s localized?” Magnus asked.

Alec didn’t sit on the couch so much as he dropped all of his weight back and just sat boneless a moment. “The Council has a few ideas,” he admitted. “But most of them are _‘let’s blame the_ Downworlders’ which I don’t think is going to help us any.”

“Let me guess,” Magnus said, pouring himself a stiff drink. “They think it’s some kind of demon summoning gone wrong, thus it must be a Warlock’s fault.”

Alec sighed, and shrugged. “You’re not wrong.”

Magnus stared at him a long moment, then guestured with his glass. “You want one?”

Alec only deliberated for a few seconds. “Yeah.” Magnus poured a second, and brought it over. Alec gave a quick thanks, and then chugged the drink.

Dark eyes stared at him. “You know, that is meant for sipping.”

“It’s been a long week,” Alec said with a pout.

“Any idea when you’ll have some time off?”

“Any idea when this demonic horde will pass?”

Magnus chewed his bottom lip a little. “You know, there is a spell, one that localizes demonic magic… if this is coming from some kind of Hellmouth, I might be able to pinpoint it tonight.” He set his drink down carefully on the coffee table, mindful of the dozens of texts and scrolls precariously stacked. “I’ll be just a moment,” he said, sounding a little distracted as he walked down the hall.

Setting down his empty glass, he grabbed the spine of the book that had caught his eye. For one, the leather was worn and old, but more importantly, there was a rune on the side. It was uncommon, he figured, for a Warlock to have gotten their hands on a Shadowhunters text. He thought of Magnus owning a copy of the Grey Book. Perhaps Warlocks were better at getting such texts than they thought.

There was a bookmark, and Alec glanced up before opening to the marked page. It was all about the Parabatai Bond. The breath rushed from his lungs, and he traced the lines of the drawn rune with his fingertip. He missed it. Ached for it. A void sat in his chest where he knew Jace should be.

He heard Magnus return but was spellbound by the rune.

“What are you doing with this?” Alec asked, entirely too much hope in his voice. He knew that hope was a foolish thing that often led to crushing disappointment.

“Ah,” Magnus sounded uncomfortable. “Well… I’m kind of… experimenting.”

Alec looked up at that.

“You and I both know the Silent Brothers can’t fix a Parabatai bond that has been broken.”

Alec nodded.

“Well, I figured maybe a Warlock could.”

“And can you?”

“Not yet. But I’m still trying to figure it out. There has never been a situation like this. A bond has never before been re-established. I’m not going to be able to just find a spell for it.” Magnus set the new text down, sat on the couch, and put his hand on Alec’s shoulder. “I’m not sure I can fix it, but I’m trying. If, and it’s a big if, I admit, _if_ I do come up with something, it will be theoretical- and honestly, it might be more dangerous than it’s worth to even try.”

“You don’t understand what it’s like to be Parabatai.” When he caught the darkening look on Magnus’s face, he carefully set the text aside, and took Magnus’s face in his hands. “You don’t. You can’t. It’s not because you’re a Warlock, even other Shadowhunters can’t understand. You can’t understand unless you have one. And you… you can’t understand what it’s like when you’ve lost one.” It still burns, like an infected wound rubbed raw. He’s functioning better these days, so is Jace, but neither of them are happy about it. “I still feel…” he choked on his emotions, and looked to the table, glaring at it, trying to put all his messy emotions back into the box where they belonged. “I’m missing something, some crucial part of myself. It makes me restless. It’s like… when I try to sleep my mind keeps seeking the bond and finding nothing but this void. I anchor him, and he pushes me. We balance out and now there’s just negative space and I haven’t been able to catch my balance since.”

“So you’re saying you want me to keep looking?”

Even if there was just a sliver of hope, Alec had to hold on. “Please.”

Magnus nodded, but then tapped another book. “If it’s a Hellmouth, I can find it after the sunsets.”

“If it’s a Hellmouth, and we close it, a few days of clean up and I should have a day off…”

“Second date?” Magnus said with a grin.

“I’ve never been to an aquarium,” Alec said, remembering Magnus’s suggestion.

“Well,” he said leaning in a little. “We need to remedy that with haste. So, let’s end this demonic assault so we can have a nice romantic date.”

“Is looking at fish romantic?”

Magnus was quiet a moment, leaning his head against the back cushion, but keeping his eyes on Alec. “It’s who you’re with, not what you’re doing.”

Alec smiled, his fingers sought out Magnus’s in the space between them, and he toyed with the rings he found there. “Alright, let’s close a Hellmouth.”


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry I've been slacking lately- this chapter is short, but I didn't want you guys thinking I'd abandoned the story. My computers had some major issues (if you've been following my works for a while, this is nothing new to you. I'm still running this POS and it's overheating like mad, and I'm just waiting for the day it just refuses to start,) there's also been a family emergency, some of my own health shit coming up soooo, yeah, I'm just a mess. I'm going to try my damnedest to get this back on schedule.

Alec stared out the window in the loft as the sun finally dipped below the horizon. He took a deep breath, and turned around. Magnus had everything for the ritual set up. Jace was looking over his blade for any flaw. Isabelle and Aline were standing close together, dressed in their battle gear, ready to go. Clary stood near the altar, willing to assist.

He’d pulled rank to get Aline on their team. He needed people he trusted, and they were few and far between. He wondered if Jia had known, if she’d allowed it to happen. But he hadn’t gone through Jia, he’d gone through his own mother, the actual Head of the New York Institute. She’d granted his request.

He listened to Magnus requesting ingredients. He saw Clary pass the Warlock a vial. The scent of burnt sugar was heavy in the air, air that felt too warm to be natural. His fingertips ran over his bow, reassuring himself that he was ready the moment they had a location.

The scent of burning paper hit his nose, but he remained unconcerned. Magnus didn’t appear bothered, so it couldn’t be a bad thing.

“Oh dear.”

 _Or not._ “Did you set something on fire?” Alec asked.

“Nothing that shouldn’t be on fire,” Magnus replied. “I found our problem.”

“That’s good news right?” Jace asked.

“Well,” Magnus drew out the word, holding it far too long to precede good news. “It’s not one Hellmouth.”

The group of Shadowhunters clustered around. They stared at the map that had burned away save for the sections with a Hellmouth, those were circles of paper still left. There were six.

“Well,” Jace took a deep breath. “Shit.”

“Eloquent as always,” Magnus replied dryly.

Aline frowned. “Each one requires a Warlock to close.”

“I’m good, but even I don’t have the energy for that,” Magnus said.

“Would Catarina and Ragnor help?” Alec asked.

“Are you asking because you think they will, or because they’re the only ones you personally know?” Magnus asked.

Alec frowned. “A bit of column A, and a little of column B. We don’t have a lot of options. This is spreading. We can’t just keep holding the line, we need these closed.”

“Catarina’s been at the hospital all night, she won’t have the energy required. Ragnor now has Zeke to think about,” Magnus said. He rubbed his chin. “But I might know a couple of warlocks who might be willing. After all, no one wants a portal to the depths of Hell to remain open.”

Magnus walked away to make the call, and Alec noticed Clary rubbing her temples. “Hey, are you alright?”

And that was all it took to have Jace paying attention to them, and at their side. “Clary?”

“It’s just, my… my head.”

Alec didn’t like the sound of her voice, the way it trembled, and held so much pain. She swayed a little, and both he and Jace reached out at the same time to steady here. “Clary?” Alec could hear Jace’s panic, but couldn’t feel it. It left him off kilter.

“Well, that was a bust,” Magnus said coming back in. “Oh, Biscuit! Are you alright?”

Clary blinked, and regained her posture. “Yes. I-I… I saw something.”

“You saw something?” Alec raised a brow. They didn’t have time for crazy. They had six Hellmouths to close, and by the sound of it, only one Warlock to get the job done.

“I saw a rune.”

Alec shot Jace a look, but Jace was paying attention to Clary, and couldn’t feel any tug on the bond, because the bond wasn’t there. Frustrated, Alec crossed his arms across his chest.

“A rune in two parts.” She looked around, her eyes a little wild. “We need it.”

“Is she always like this?” Alec heard Aline ask Isabelle.

“Not always,” Isabelle replied, staring after Clary with curiosity.

Clary got hold of a piece of paper, and drew out the two runes. “We need this rune.”

Alec stared at the lines for along moment, then looked to his Parabatai who still stared at the paper.  They couldn’t communicate in the way they’d used to. “It’s not a rune,” Alec snapped, irritated by everything; he couldn’t feel his parabatai, they were going to have to rely on brute force to get to the edge of not one, not two, but _six_ Hellmouths, and if that didn’t sound impossible, they had only one Warlock to close them. Of course, there was also the fact that coming out of the closet had affected his work life, his soulmate had awful words written on his body, and he also had a cabinet of Clave Officials who made it quite clear that they didn’t respect his relationship, or him for that matter. And then there is Dave, the threat of Inquisitor Herondale, he and Magnus hadn’t had time for their second date-

“It is a rune,” Clary argued, cutting off his thoughts. “It’s… Alliance, it’s the Alliance rune.”

Alec shot Jace a ‘ _your girlfriend has lost it,’_ look, but once again, Jace didn’t look. So, he had to be direct. “It’s not a rune, Clary. Seriously, did she get into hallucinogens?”

“An Angel showed me this rune,” Clary said.

Alec rolled his eyes. “Clary, only Iron Sisters can commune with the Angels. And even then, it isn’t often.”

“But Alec-“

“No. We need to go. We’re wasting time-“

“What does it do?” Jace asked.

Alec groaned. “Don’t encourage her, Jace.”

“I trust her,” Jace said with such conviction that maybe if their bond was working, Alec might have believed her too.

“We nee-“

“It’s a temporary tether. It binds-“

“Like a parabatai bond?” Alec asked, suddenly interested.

“It’s not for two Shadowhunters,” Clary said, still sounding a little dazed.

“Then who’s it for?” Jace asked.

“For Alec and Magnus,” Clary said with certainty. “For a Shadowhunter and a Downworlder. It’ll allow them to share abilities.”

“What?” Alec shook his head. It was so far-fetched, he couldn’t wrap his mind around it.

“Do you mean I would have access to Alec’s runes, and he would have access to my magic?” Magnus asked.

Clary was quiet a moment, staring down at the paper. “Yes.”

“This is insanity.”

“We have to shut the Hellmouths,” Clary said with frightening certainty. “If another one opens, we’ll be overrun. We’ll lose New York.”

Alec caught the object Jace threw at him. A Stele. He stared down at the Adamas tip, then to Magnus who looked a little frightened. “What do you think?” Alec asked, figuring Magnus would shut it down and that would be the end of that.

“Do you sense it?” Magnus asked. When Alec raised a brow, Magnus continued. “The Angelic energy, it pours off of Clary.”

“So, you’re saying you believe she was visited in her mind by an angel, and given a new rune?”

Magnus took a deep breath, then shrugged. “I guess that is what I’m saying.”

Alec picked up the paper, and put it on the altar so he could have a better look at it. While he didn’t one hundred percent trust Clary, he did find himself trusting Magnus, even with this. The Adamas glowed, and Alec held out his hand. When Magnus put his bare wrist in it, Alec ran his thumb over the skin there. “For the record, I don’t like this idea, and I don’t like being a guinea pig.”

Magnus smirked. “Noted.”

The Stele hovered over Magnus’s skin, but then he turned the Stele. “You should do me first. If this binds, and allows the use of powers, maybe it’s best if my Shadowhunter skills are already tied to you.”

Magnus took the Stele, it didn’t glow, but when Magnus focused on putting the rune on Alec, it still worked. Alec took the Stele back, and carefully marked Magnus. There was something definitive about the way the runes turned black on their skin, Alec felt the rush of magic run through his veins, it tingled and warmed him before settling where he could simply feel the warmth in the core of his chest.

Alec touched his own chest, where he could feel the ball of magic sitting. “By the Angel.” He finally looked at Magnus whose eyes were wide. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Magnus said, a little shocked as he looked down at his wrist, then up at Alec. “I… I think I underestimated the power of runes.”

“Just wait till you have a chance to really put it to the test,” Jace said with a smirk.

“Speaking of,” Alec said, rubbing the spot at his sternum. “I’m going to need some Warlock 101.”

“You’re a wizard, Alec,” Clary said, deepening her voice. The Shadowhunters all turned to stare at her with confusion. She cleared her throat. “Never mind, mundane thing.”

Magnus held out his own hand, blue flames licking around his fingers. “Call it forth, envision the magic doing what you want it to. A lot of magic is instinct, and as a Shadowhunter, I’m sure you have it in spades.”

“You always look so… fluid,” he made some awkward hand motions. “I-“

“Everyone casts differently. Catarina doesn’t even need to move, it helps considering she casts in a hospital sometimes. It depends on the person.”

“So, I’m basically going to go in blind to shut a Hellmouth.”

“Well, I don’t have time for an in-depth educational retreat in Fiji, have you ever been to Fiji?”

“Of course not. There is no Institute in Fiji.”

Magnus frowned. “We are going to have a conversation about what constitutes as a vacation later.” Mischief danced in his eyes. “Also, Fiji sounds like a wonderful fourth date location.”

“We can’t just go to Fiji.”

Magnus raised a brow, and wiggled his fingers. “Can so.”

“Not that I don’t find this adorable,” Isabelle cut in, “But we do have demons to kill, Hellmouths to close.”

“We’ll do the first one together,” Magnus said. “So we have an understanding of how many demons there are, and so I can help guide Alec into closing the first one. After that, we can divide and conquer. The closing of one Hellmouth should distract the demons, and that might work in our favour.”

Aline checked her daggers. “Sounds like a plan.”

“What could possibly go wrong,” Alec griped cynically as they all made their way to the door.


	26. Chapter 26

Demons were nearly overrunning the first Hellmouth. Isabelle and Jace made an effective tag team at taking them out. Aline was less blunt force, more fluid grace with a deadly edge. She arched back with all the poise of a dancer as a demon slashed at her, missing her by an inch. She came back upright with a spin, her dual seraph blades leaving burning, gaping wounds that burned through the demonic flesh and left it in ashes. Clary darted around the battle field with her daggers, fitting wherever she was needed at the time.

Magnus himself felt the runes giving him more energy, but he didn’t take up a weapon, instead using his well of magic to dispatch demons. Alec’s arrows flew true, and burned with magic. The ebb and flow of energies between them was both strange, and wonderful. Even though its applications were embedded in battle, Magnus couldn’t help but store the feelings away, something about it felt important, but he couldn’t focus on it with demons rushing them.

Arrows were no longer fitted with runes, and Magnus wondered as they got close to the Hellmouth, if Alec had even realized that he was accidentally conjuring more each time he reached back to grab one. They were no longer arrows tipped in Adamas, but the magic was just as effective at dispatching the demons they fought. Theoretically, Alec could just leave the bow and arrows and throw magic all on its own, but Magnus thought it was instinct, and comfort that allowed the magic to flow so easily through the Shadowhunter’s chosen weapon.

Isabelle yanked her whip, dragging a demon closer, and Jace thrust his sword through its core. There were smaller demons around, but the group had managed to get to the Hellmouth, an impossibly deep hole in the middle of the grass of a playground. Its magic swirled with the sharpness of violence.

“Keep them off us,” Magnus ordered. “Alec, you need to do this one, okay?”

Alec shouldered his bow, blue eyes focused and clear, his back to the other Shadowhunters, working with the complete faith that they would have them covered.

“Just tell me what to do.”

“Picture it closed, picture the grass overtaking the Hellmouth, picture what it will look like closed, what the area will feel like, no more violence, or demons, or dark energy.” Magnus could feel his own magic reacting to being around the Hellmouth. Every instinct told him to shut it himself, but if they were going to get six done, then he needed Alec to know how to do it.

Alec stared at the Hellmouth, like he could glare it into submission.

Magnus knew how he would close it, the motions as magic worked its way through his body like the rhythm of a song made him want to dance. Alec wasn’t wired that way though, and Magnus had told him it would all be instinct. Still nothing was happening.

And then Alec closed his eyes, his head bowed a little, arms were loose at his sides, but he turned his palms toward the Hellmouth, magic flared around his palms, wrapped around his long fingers, and licked around his wrists. The ground shifted, and slowly, bits of the Hellmouth were overtaken by stone and grass.

The demons redirected, and came at them with everything. Knowing Alec had the basics, he turned and knocked a demon away from Aline, giving her room to kill the two that were close to her.

He could feel the magic leaving him, flowing to Alec instead, burning bright with the assistance of the Stamina rune. Alec’s hands lifted slowly, struggling under the power, more ground overtook the Hellmouth. Once his hands were at shoulder height, they directed toward each other and with one last push, his hands connected and the earth followed his lead, snapping the last bit of earth together, closing the first Hellmouth.

Alec opened one eye, then the other letting his hands fall while a goofy grin took over his face. He looked over at Magnus with his eyes burning bright. “I did it.”

“You most certainly did,” Magnus said proudly, touching his bicep and giving it a squeeze. “Very impressive. You’re a natural.” Something in his peripheral caught his attention, but before he could do anything about it, Alec had his bow back in hand, an arrow nocked, and it flew on fire with magic straight through the demon that had been coming up on Jace’s back.

Alec let his bow hand lower a bit, surprise in his eyes as he looked to the rune on Magnus’s wrist. They didn’t have time to discuss. Together, the six of them easily disposed of the last few minor demons.

From then on, they needed to split up if they had any real hope of closing all the Hellmouths. “Jace and Clary, go with Magnus,” Alec said. “I’ll take Izzy and Aline.”

“But Jace is your Parabatai,” Magnus said, confused. “Shouldn’t you two be together?”

Alec took his eyes from Jace, and stared at Magnus for a moment. “He _is_ my Parabatai. Which is exactly why he’s going with you.”

Magnus wasn’t really sure what to do with that, but Alec was the highest ranked member of the team, and his word wasn’t questioned by any of the Shadowhunters. Instead, Alec just turned away and Isabelle and Aline followed him.

“Come on,” Jace said. “We only have tonight.”

“But you’re his Parabatai,” Magnus said, falling into step with Clary, a few steps behind Jace as they made their way back to the street where Clary had a car- they wanted to reserve as much energy as possible.

“You keep saying that,” Jace said.

“You two are supposed to fight together.”

Jace stopped and threw a put-out look over his shoulder. “You two have to go to different places to shut Hellmouths. I’m his Parabatai. _You_ are his _soulmate._ If he can’t be there to protect you, I’m the next best thing, now can we go?”

It slowly started to sink in. “I’m a Warlock, I don’t need a bodyguard.”

“You do when you’re shutting a Hellmouth,” Jace said, sitting in the back of the car because it was easier with his long sword.

Magnus conceded to that point, getting in the front seat while Clary got behind the wheel. The car started and she merged in with the light traffic. “Magnus, set the GPS.”

::

There was a stunning lack of demons around the second Hellmouth which Alec, Aline, and Isabelle arrived at. They moved cautiously toward it, expecting demons to pop out from behind the trees, or rush them from the nearby water treatment facility. There were a few, large, slow moving, and easily killed by the trio.

“We’ve got your back,” Isabelle said as they arrived at the Hellmouth.

Alec took a moment to look around, they were standing on an old basketball court that had seen its prime probably before Alec had even been born. The lines looked like they’d been done in chalk by a first grader. He stared around at the cracked concrete and imagined what the hole would look like filled in. Stones, and chalk marks, cracks in the faded grey concrete complete with weeds.

“Izzy, on your left,” Aline warned.

Alec tried to ignore it, the sounds of the battle beginning. Demons were coming back to defend the Hellmouth. He needed to close it, and to do that, he had to trust that Isabelle and Aline had the demon problem covered.

Ignoring his awareness rune that caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end, a shiver ran through him knowing there were demons at his exposed back, went against every bit of training he’d ever had.

He could feel his runes activating, despite not being the one to use them. Magnus too was either in battle, or trying to close the third Hellmouth.

_Focus._

He shut his eyes, kept the visualization in mind as he called the magic forth. Once again, on faith, he kept his eyes shut, knowing that Magnus’s magic flowed through him, and would do his bidding as it had done before. He could feel it working, as he pushed his hands through the same motions as he had the first time. Magnus was right, a lot of magic was instinct, and following it.

He heard Isabelle cry out, and it broke his concentration. His eyes flew open, and the Hellmouth was only halfway closed, and fighting to regain territory with Alec’s lack of concentration. “Izzy!” He shouted, holding the magic where it was, but incapable of pushing it forward.

“She’s fine,” Aline shouted. “Just get it done!”

Isabelle didn’t say anything, but he couldn’t check on her, couldn’t help her unless the Hellmouth was closed. He forced the motions, the visualization, pushed harder as the magic built within him. It snapped closed with a finality that ended the odd darkness that came with it.

He turned around to see Isabelle still fighting, a little slower, and with a lot less grace. She’d given up on the whip in favour of her short sword. The Adamas glowed as it struck out, and burned demons. Alec took up his weapon once more, and fell into the ease of battle, helping to kill the demons left.

As the final demon died, Alec immediately went to Isabelle. “What happened, are you okay?”

“Relax,” Isabelle said, pulling out her Stele. “It’s just my ankle, twisted it a little.”

Aline shook her head, a smirk on her lips. “Well, maybe if you wore something more practical than six inch heels.”

Isabelle glared playfully at the other girl.  “You will take my heels from my cold, dead hands.” She unzipped the side, drew an Iratze that made some of the swelling go down immediately. “Okay, we’re going to need to catch the subway if we’re going to get to the fourth Hellmouth, let’s get a move on.”

::

Magnus hadn’t had a problem with shutting the third Hellmouth. There were a few heavy duty demons, one of the blind variety, but Jace and Clary had been forewarned and activated their soundless runes the moment they saw it. Magnus had to wait until it was killed because Alec didn’t have one activated on his body.

“This is all going better than expected,” Clary said on their way back to the car- the car in question, Magnus had found out, was Luke’s.

“Don’t ever say that,” Jace said with a groan. “Now things are going to go to hell.”

“We’re already dealing with Hellmouths. It’s unlikely to get more hellish than that,” Clary argued. “Off to number five!”

Jace was in the backseat, messing with his phone. “Izzy just checked in. They’re all good, headed for the subway, so they won’t be in service until they’re topside again.” His head then popped between the two front seats. “Clary?”

“Yeah?” She checked the mirror, then the blind spot before merging into the other lane.

“We’re operating under the impression that the Alliance rune runs like the Parabatai rune, right?”

“Well, yeah,” Clary replied, keeping her eyes on the road. “What are you thinking?”

He unclipped his seatbelt and practically sat on the center console, he stabbed his finger at the GPS screen. “That is a lake!”

“Yeah?”

“And we’re going to the other side of it.”

“Yes, Jace!” Clary said, sounding exasperated.

“We can’t. Not until they finish their Hellmouth.”

“Why?”

“Water disrupts bonds,” Jace said. “If the Alliance rune is the same, once Magnus crosses the water Alec will lose access to magic. They won’t be able to shut down the Hellmouth, and if they’re in the middle of battle-“

“We’re kind of in the middle of a very time sensitive matter,” Clary said. “And they’re on the subway, how long will it take them to get out?”

“What are you thinking?” Magnus asked.

“We go to the other side,” Clary said. “We close the Hellmouth, then you portal us to the last one where they will be. If we don’t get them all closed, by dawn they’ll multiply again. If we have a hope at beating down the numbers, we need to get this one.” She tapped the time screen, it was three forty seven in the morning. “We have less than two hours till sunrise.” She took a quick glance at Jace. “It’s your call.”

“Magnus, you have enough magic to close it and portal us immediately after?”

“I should as long as you two do most of the demon fighting,” Magnus replied, toying with a ring on his finger.

“Alright, let’s do it.”

::

Alec held the overhead bar as the train came to a screeching halt, it announced the station stop, people got off, others got on. The train started speeding down the track once again. “I hate subways,” he muttered.

“As you’ve said, only a million times,” Isabelle replied from where she was sitting next to a mundane reading the paper.

He fought the urge to adjust his bow, their glamoured weapons were invisible to the mundanes.

Aline yawned widely, and pulled a bag of candies out of her coat pocket. “You want some?”

Alec shook his head, but Isabelle took two.

He felt a pull and then a snap. A harsh breath left him. He looked around before Aline, who had her hand on one of the hanging straps, too short for the overhead bar, grabbed his arm. “Oh no.”

The Alliance rune faded and left a silvery white scar just to the right of his arrow soulmark. He sucked in a breath, terrified. He remembered what it was like to lose Jace as his Parabatai when he broke the mark. Had he lost Magnus too? The Soulmate mark remained no matter what. “Magnus,” he whimpered. Had the Alliance rune just faded out? Was there a time limit on it? Or had they become overrun by demons? Had Jace not been able to keep them safe? How would Alec know? He couldn’t feel his Parabatai.

“Alec!” Isabelle snapped only an inch away, her hands holding his face, her sharp nails against his flesh helping to ground him and keep her in focus.

“Magnus,” he said, ashamed when it came out so desperately.

“Focus on your platonic bond. Find Jace.” She practically growled at him when he shook his head. “Alec. Focus! I know it’s so much weaker, but you’ll know if he’s alive.”

It was there, the fast beat that came with exertion. “Jace is alive.”

“Good. Now focus on your soulmate bond. I know you’re not as familiar with it, but you can feel his heartbeat too. I know you can do it, just focus, Alec.”

Alec shoved his fear in a box, and shoved it down. He didn’t have the luxury of falling apart. Not now, not when so much was riding on them to get this mission done. He shut his eyes as he had when he was working magic. Recalled the touch of those blue flames, the warmth in his core. He thought of the words on his wrist, but more, he thought of the man attached to those words, the kindness and the warmth of him.

Heart beating strong, felt it like his own pulse. “They’re okay.”

Isabelle let out a breath, like she had been every bit as unsure as he had been. “Good.”

“Except for the fact that now I don’t have access to magic.”

“Well burn that bridge when we cross it,” Aline said.

The two Lightwoods turned and looked at her. “I’m pretty sure that’s now how the saying goes,” Isabelle said slowly.

Aline frowned. “Huh.” She returned to staring out the window of the subway into the darkness.

Isabelle grinned however. “We’ll figure it out,” she assured Alec, and reclaimed a seat.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during chapter 5 of Bracelets and Bra Straps

Figuring it out is easier said than done. Alec, Isabelle, and Aline emerged from the subway tunnel, and followed the directions on Isabelle’s phone. Even coming in on the edge of the abandoned factory, Alec felt his skin crawling. This Hellmouth was more powerful than the ones before. Maybe it was the first, and had been growing in power, or maybe it was the most recent- Alec’s knowledge of magical workings, and demonic portals were limited.

Isabelle had pinged a text off to Jace, but had yet to hear back.

Fingers tightened around his sword hard enough to bleed his knuckles white. “We can’t go in. Not yet. Not without a way to close it.”

“I’m not sure we have a choice,” Aline said, looking somewhere past, and above Alec’s shoulder.

He turned and looked up. A flying demon with leather like wings, and fangs that shone in the moonlight. “Shit.”

“Inside!” Isabelle screamed as the thing dove for them.

Alec ran, but kept pace to keep behind the others, he took the time to look over his shoulder, only to be blasted back by a ball of fire which had such a concussive blast it knocked him into the building, and onto Aline, and tore into the metal structure leaving it cut up like it had been paper.

Isabelle tore off her jacket and beat over Alec’s ankles with it, putting out the flames on his pants. Aline gave him a gentle shove, enough that he rolled off of her. His ankles were burning and he grabbed his Stele. “That thing can spit fire!” he said, angry and surprised all at once.

“This building is set for demolition,” Isabelle said. “Saw the sign outside.” She looked around. “I don’t think this was ever structurally sound.”

Another blast hit outside and part of the metal wall came flying inward, shards flying through the air, as all three of them instinctually put their arms up to cover their faces. Aline ended up with a shard in her arm, another in her leg. Isabelle got a cut on her leg. Alec remained luckily unharmed.

“Sooner than later that thing is going to realize it can just blast a hole inside,” Isabelle said, yanking the piece of shrapnel from her leg.

“Well good thing for us that it appears dumber than a bag of rocks,” Aline said, removing the metal pieces which didn’t appear to be deep. “We need to go further in, find some cover.”

As much as they didn’t want to, they moved into the hallway, hearing the demon blasting holes outside. They were moving closer to the Hellmouth’s signature, they didn’t even need Isabelle’s phone to tell. The feeling of _wrongness_ was in the air, and they were all Angel blooded enough to feel the heavy demonic presence. In fact…

Alec heard a heavy footed stomp. And Aline and Isabelle stopped walking. They froze in the middle of the hallway. At the end of the hall, a door was torn from its hinges, and the demon that appeared barely fit through the doorway.

“Oh shit,” Isabelle whispered.

“That’s a greater demon, isn’t it?” Aline whispered fearfully.

“Run,” Alec whispered, as the thing crouched ever so slightly. It took off in a sprint, faster than its size suggested it could be. “Run!”

The three of them ran back in the direction in which they’d come as the demon barrelled down the hall. Alec risked a look over his shoulder to see the demon gaining, there were spikes growing out of its arms that looked like bone, and they scraped against the walls as it ran.

Aline and Isabelle tucked left, and Alec who had gotten his bow in hand dove right. He spun reaching back for an arrow to realize his quiver was empty. _Shit._ He dropped his bow in favour of his sword when the demon came for him. He rolled out of the way, and came up near Aline who stood in a defensive crouch.

“We’re going to need Magnus,” Aline said. “We need to seal that thing before anything like this comes out.”

Alec was a little more worried about the fact that his Parabatai hadn’t texted Isabelle back yet. If they were also facing a greater demon, then they might just be on their own.

And honestly, Alec didn’t like their odds.

The big arm full of spikes came swinging toward his head, both he and Aline dropped right to the floor which left them in a terrible position. Isabelle’s whip curled around the demon’s wrist, distracting it from a follow-up move. She pulled but gained no ground, instead, it grabbed the electrum whip as if it wasn’t crackling with electricity, and gave a mighty pull. Isabelle flew past them, landed hard on the floor rolling to a stop. She immediately started to get back to her feet, but Alec could see the clumsiness in the movements, the lack of control.

The demon took off after Isabelle, and Alec ran after the demon, his long legs able to eat up the space between them, and he went into a low spin with his sword, slicing at the knee. A move that he’d had an absolute hell of a time mastering when he was fifteen, and again a couple of years later when he was out of practice with it, and a growth spurt had made it feel even more awkward. It was hard not to trip himself up, or let the rubber treading of his boots stop him rather than move with him.

The demon let out a monstrous roar which rattled the walls, and the backhand sent Alec onto his back, disoriented and in pain. He was lucky though, none of the spikes had hit him. With that kind of force, it likely would have killed him.

Aline threw a dagger at the demon, which only made it angry, and it charged at her. She dodged out of the way, and managed to get to Alec, pulling him to his feet, which only made the world spin, and he struggle to stay upright.

The demon turned back toward them. Alec had no choice but to lean heavily on Aline, not with the way the world was still spinning. And why was half of his face so warm?

The demon arched back and howled in pain. It turned and there were two spears covered in runes stuck in its back. Two Shadowhunters went low, slicing at the knees and getting behind the demon again. This time when they grabbed the spear poles and shot their feet simultaneously into the backs of the demons knees, it went down, and when the shoved on the poles, the demon went right down to its chest. Isabelle came up then, and jammed her angelic blade through its spine.

The demon screamed, and they all jumped back as it started burning from the inside until there was nothing left but ash.

“Looked like you lot could use a hand,” one of them said, a man with fair, slightly curled hair and an easy smile. He looked vaguely familiar.

“Thanks,” Alec said. Or tried to. It came out slurred.

“Alec,” Isabelle came forward and touched the side of his face that was so warm, when she pulled back, he noticed her had was red. Blood. _Oh._

Smaller demons were scuttling down the hall, and Alec could hear their talons. The second man was taller, older, and had an air of command about him. “Put him in the corner,” he ordered.

It took a few seconds for Alec to realize that he was the _him_ to be put in the corner. Aline gently lowered him. She took his Stele from the pocket of his jacket, and shoved it into his hand. “Stay put, we’ll keep them off you.”

He watched, slightly detached. Logically, he knew he had a concussion. In the moment though, it was hard to think about anything. And he wanted to sleep. Bad.

He struggled to stay awake, and felt it a losing battle. Much like the one that the two new Shadowhunters, along with Aline, and Isabelle fought.  While the greater demon had been taken care of, there were plenty of lesser demons. Too many. They were being overrun.

Alec gripped the Stele in his hand. He wanted to draw an Iratze, but his hand shook too much and he knew he wouldn’t be able to do it.

The wall blasted inward, and that flying demon from before came in. On the opposite side of the room, a portal opened, and out jumped Clary, Jace, then Magnus.

 _Magnus looks good in purple,_ was the last thought Alec had before his head drooped forward and he lost consciousness.

:::

Magnus took in the scene before him. They’d had a hard time closing up the fourth Hellmouth, and it looked like this team hadn’t been having an easy go of it either. He blasted at demons, and with their numbers helping to even the odds, they finally vanquished the remainders of the lesser demons. Of course, there was a flying one, tossing fireballs into the mix.

He wondered why Jace hadn’t taken it upon himself to kill the demon, it was something of a challenge, and if he understood anything about Jace, it was that the man liked his job.

He found Jace, huddled in the corner, shaking someone.

_Alexander._

Rage built up with his magic and he threw a shockwave of his own, tossing the flying demon back. The other Shadowhunters attacked it together, and Magnus ran to Jace. To Alexander.

Half of his face was coated in blood. He knew from Catarina that he shouldn’t worry too much about that, that didn’t mean anything. Head wounds were bleeders. He traced his fingers along Alec’s hairline and found the open wound, stitching it up with magic, sending waves of healing into the man’s mind.

Alec stirred then, blinking- luckily Jace had cleaned around Alec’s eye the best he could with the sleeve of his long sleeved shirt. His eyes went from foggy with difficulty tracking, to clear, and switching between looking at Jace, and looking at Magnus. “Is it done?” he asked.

With a look over his shoulder, Magnus saw the flying demon smoldering, while the others were retrieving their weapons. “Demons are dead. I need to shut down this Hellmouth though.”

A hand on his arm gave him pause, and Magnus looked to Alec. “You scared me,” the Shadowhunter admitted. “The Alliance rune snapped.”

“We went over water,” Magnus whispered.

Alec nodded, like he understood. “It faded away. With the Parabatai rune it fades away when someone dies, when they go across water it just… mutes it.”

“I’m sorry I scared you,” Magnus said.

Alec wiggled his Stele. “Let’s finish this.”

Magnus took the Stele, drew the rune like it was his hundredth time doing so. And Alec marked Magnus the same way. The runes became black, and Alec stood.

“So, who are you two?” Jace asked once they were all together again.

“Andrew Blackthorn, Head of the Los Angeles Institute,” Aline said, “I met him while I was- uh, watching over Helen.”

Andrew nodded. “And this is my son, Mark.”

Mark gave a half-smile, and a nod. “So how about we shut this thing? There is still one to go, isn’t there?”

Magnus followed Alec further into the building but heard Andrew talking to Aline. “Helen was quite insistent.”

“She wanted to come,” Mark said.

“But is in absolutely no condition to,” Andrew said.

“So I’m her stand-in, I suppose,” Mark continued.

“Oh,” was Aline’s only response.

At the edge of the Hellmouth, Magnus felt his magic rise up, and realized it was Alec already reaching for it. “Together?” he asked, blood drying on his face, a questioning brow raised, and a smirk on his lips.

He’d never looked better.

“Together,” Magnus replied.


	28. AUTHORS NOTE

I know, this isn't the chapter you were expecting or wanting but since it has been SO LONG I figured this was the best way to let everyone know what is going on.

Most importantly this story WILL be finished.

If you've ever read any of my authors notes in chapters, you probably know I've had laptop issues for like 2 years, but the past six months it's been getting real bad. My laptop is ancient. Unfortunately, it overheats to the point where it is uncomfortable to type, and I've spent time on it only to back up files. So, good news, I have everything backed up. Bad news, I can't really afford a replacement right now (hence why I was using that piece of shit for so long) I'm hoping in a couple months I'll have enough squirreled away, but like rent and food are kind of important, sooooo, yeah, that's where I'm at.

I'm really sorry about this, I didn't plan on my laptop dying (RIP, you stored a lot of stories, buddy.)  When I get a new laptop, I'll be back!


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUESS WHO'S BACK! So, I managed to get a new laptop on a payment plan so it shouldn't financially cripple me.   
> I'm still working on getting back into the habit, obviously this chapter is much shorter, but felt like a good place to end it considering my plans for the next chapter, it just wouldn't blend well. I'll hopefully get back to my once a weekend posting schedule, that said, I'm super out of practice, so please bear with me. 
> 
> Also, you might notice me uploading stories, that isn't affecting my writing schedule of this- they were all stories just sitting on my old laptop that I hadn't had time to edit, or just never got around to posting, which I'm hopefully going to be doing a wee bit of editing and posting those. 
> 
> If the formatting is a little off- I had to reformat because I'm not going to buy the license for the program I used on my old laptop. The program on this one is garbage, but I also have a license for Scrivener, so hopefully using that for future fics will work out. If you happen to write, and use Scrivener, can you tell me if it uploads here ok? Because doing all the paragraph breaks was bullshit. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you all for your patience!! <3 AND FOR THOSE OF YOU SUGGESTING A GO FUND ME FOR A NEW LAPTOP BECAUSE YOU WOULD ACTUALLY WILLINGLY PAY TO READ WHAT I WRITE!? You are magnificent, and I've never been so flattered. <3

After closing five hellmouths, closing one more sounded like a piece of cake. It helped that they were all together now. Alec, Magnus, Jace, Clary, Isabelle, Aline, Mark, and Andrew all moved into demolition site. It looked ominous in the darkness. They'd called in the location of the final hellmouth to the Institute, but the city was still rather overrun, and other Shadowhunters were cleaning up the streets.

  
"This place is huge," Isabelle said with a frown on her painted lips. "We're going to have to split up."

  
Alec felt the magic in his chest. Under the care of Magnus and Jace, his head wound had healed nicely. "It has to be on the ground somewhere, we can ignore the upper levels of the building."

  
"It's over there," Magnus said, pointing. "Can't you feel the dark magic pouring off of it?"

  
Alec couldn't, or maybe just wasn't as intune with the magic as Magnus. He adjusted his grip on his bow, and reached back for an arrow as he took a step forward. "Let's get this done."

  
"And then some food," Jace said, falling into step with his parabatai. "I'm starving." 

"That shwarma place should still be open," Clary said, her dual blades glowing lightly. 

"Excellent," Isabelle chimed in, her bracelet slithering down her hand and elongating into her whip. "They also have the best baklava." 

"I don't think I've ever had baklava," Aline said, checking her pockets for her Stele, steadier once it was found. 

"Aline!" Mark shouted at once, yanking her back by her jacket. A hook on the end of a chain went swinging by, narrowly missing her face. 

She let out a squeak, and floundered a bit before finding her footing. 

"There is someone up there!" Andrew said. 

Alec shot an arrow at the attacker, but the man moved too fast, and seemed to blend into the shadows. "Where did he go?" 

"I can't see anyone," Isabelle said. 

"Let's just get the hellmouth closed," Jace insisted. "The last thing we need is this situation getting any worse." 

They moved through the site, large construction equipment casting shadows from streetlights. 

"Body," Isabelle said, rushing over to the man. "Looks like a security guard for the site." She took a moment to check his pulse. "Dead." 

A scuttling sound caught their attention, between rows of equipment were a couple of mid-sized demons. "We'll take care of this," Andrew said. "Go. Close it!" He and Mark both jumped into battle. 

The closer they got, the more demons came from behind, returning to protect the hellmouth. "Aline and I will stay here, we'll hold as many of them off as possible," Isabelle said. 

There wasn't time for a debate. Alec, Magnus, Jace and Clary ran through the construction site, killing the demons they came across, until they arrived at the hellmouth. "Let's finish this," Alec said. 

"Together," Magnus said with a nod. Magic flaired to life around his fingertips, and Alec seemed almost medatative as his head dropped with the familiar blue power building up around Alec's hands. 

They'd barely started when Jace let out a surprised yelp, it was enough to startle Alec out of building his magic. His attention went to Jace who was looking at a dagger imbedded in his side. He yanked it out, it had only gone in an inch, but left him pained and furious. 

"Not so fast." 

All four of them looked around, trying to find the voice. "Who are you?" Jace yelled. "Show yourself, you son of a bitch!" 

"Tisk, tisk, Jonathan. You might find that speaking ill of my mother to be a bad move. After all, I share a mother with your soulmate." The group kept looking around, trying to find the man in the darkness. His voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. "It's so good to finally see you in person, Clarissa."

Clary. My name is Clary," the girl said. "Where are you? I want to see you." 

Alec readied his bow. 

"I'm not foolish, little sister." 

"Your name is Jonathan, too."

"You... you know about me?" 

Clary took a step forward. "Yes. My mother told me. She thought you died. She was heartbroken." 

"Lies," he seethed. "She didn't care for me at all. She was afraid. She never loved me. And now, now I'll raise the mother who does." 

"Wha-" Clary's question was cut off when a winged demon flew out of the Hellmouth.

Alec was ready though, he shot arrows in quick succession. The magic burned at the wing he'd aimed for, effectively grounding the demon whose flesh shed into the form of a beautiful woman. Her eyes were entirely black when she looked over her shoulder at them. 

"Lilith," Magnus whispered with fearful reverence. 

"Shut the hellmouth," Alec ordered him. "We'll handle her." 

Magnus's mouth fell open. "She's the mother of demons!" 

"And we will handle her." Alec hooked his bow into the strap on his back, and pulled out his long sword, standing with Jace and Clary. 

"You could join us, Clary," Jonathan said. "We could rule the world together." 

"My mother told me about you. About what Valentine did to you. The experiments." Clary adjusted her feet into a better battle stance. "You were the one to open the hellmouths, weren't you?" 

Jonathan sighed dramatically. "You, little sister, have no vision." 

That gave Clary pause, then she smirked. "Oh, I have vision." She dropped her blades, whipped out her stele and drew upon her hand with no hesitation. She turned it toward them and it lit with such a pure light that even Alec and Jace had to turn away. 

The screaming echoed, and when the light died, Lilith was burnt and trembling on the ground, while Jonathan just looked pissed. "Look at what you've done!" he bellowed. "How could you! I'll kill you. I'll kill all of you." 

"You won't touch my daughter." 

Jonathan turned only to have a sword plunged through his heart. "Mom?" 

Jocelyn grimaced, and twisted the blade. "You're not my son." With that, she ripped the blade out and Jonathan's body started to burn from the inside out. 

"No!" Lilith cried out, reaching out weakly only to have Alec's magic arrow blast through her skull, finishing what Clary started. 

The group stood silent, the darkness staining the earth, forever marking the spot. Alec glanced over his shoulder to see the Hellmouth fully close. Magnus, with dark circles under his eyes, caught his eye, and for a second his glamour was down. Alec managed a weak smile. 

"Is it over?" Clary asked. 

"I think so," Jace replied. 

"You kids okay?" Jocelyn asked. 

"I think we're all going to be just fine," Clary said with a smile as the sun started to colour the horizon. 


	30. Chapter 30

Alec had never particularly enjoyed the calm. He'd been trained for too long not to trust it. With the hellmouths closed, demon activity went way down. He managed to get his reports on the incidents finished, Alliance Rune included, and get caught up on some much needed sleep.   
  
A couple of days passed without incident and he was wary. By the time a full week passed Jace was dragging him to the training room to work out their pent up energy. Training was one thing that Jace did take seriously, and they ended up getting a few bruises in their efforts to one up the other.   
  
Their muscles and lungs were burning by the time they sat side by side on the bench. Jace took a sip of his water. Alec finally located his, which had rolled under the bench, and took a small sip even though he wanted to guzzle it down. He knew by now that that would just give him muscle cramps.   
  
"How's Clary?" Alec asked, surprisingly out of actual curiosity.   
  
Jace blew out a long breath. "She's spending a lot of time with her mom." He shrugged. "Her life has changed so much in such a short amount of time. I think now she's finally getting some breathing room to come to terms with it." He took another sip of water. "How's Magnus?"   
  
"Okay, I guess," Alec shrugged. "We texted a bit over the past week, but I've been busy."   
  
"With what? The past three days have been nothing but normal patrols with less problems than usual."   
  
Alec took a deep breath. "I don't know, okay. I just... I don't know what I'm doing."   
  
"Go," Jace said, pointing in the general direction of the institute doors. "Talk to him, in person." He then looked Alec over. "Actually, shower first. You stink."   
  
Alec shoved Jace and stood. "You're a dick."   
  
"But not wrong," Jace replied with a laugh.   
  
::  
  
Alec didn't just shower, but shaved, and dressed in some clothes that Isabelle had purchased. The olive green henley wasn't too far from his comfort zone- Isabelle had gotten better at buying him things within the parameters of items he would actually wear.   
  
The jeans she'd bought him were a little tighter than he would have chosen for himself, but they fit. They presented a bit of a problem when it came to fitting his phone into the pockets- the front ones were actually fake which made him confused. With stele and phone shoved in his back pocket, he grabbed a light jacket from the peg on the back of his bedroom door, and left.   
  
Things were surprisingly calm in the Institute. Outside he spotted Aline sitting on the steps, a woman with fair hair at her side. They appeared deep in conversation, and he figured he'd catch up with Aline later. He had somewhere to be anyway.   
  
Public transportation got him close to Magnus's loft, and the walk was rather nice. There were still people outside, enjoying the late afternoon. With a pause in front of the buzzer, he wondered if he should have called in advance, sent a text, or a fire message, something to give Magnus some kind of warning. His finger hovered over the buzzer, before finally pressing down.   
  
When Magnus finally greeted with a questioning 'hello,' Alec barely got a word out before being interrupted by the buzzing sound signifying the door unlocking. "See you soon," he said with a grin, grabbing the door and pulling it open.   
  
He took the elevator, and found Magnus waiting for him in the hallway. "Hey."   
  
"Hey," Magnus smiled at him, twisting a writing quill between his fingers. "Come on in," he said, walking through the door and leaving it wide open for Alec. Baroque music softly filled the air and was every bit as inviting as Magnus had been.   
  
The loft looked different, something had changed but he wasn't sure what. Perhaps the vase was different, or it had been moved? Had the paint on the walls changed, just to a subtley darker colour? Or, maybe nothing had changed at all. Maybe the change was within himself, and how he saw the place.   
  
He noticed a few Legos on the floor, close to the baseboard- evidence that Ezekiel had visited. The books on the coffee table were on Shadowhunter lore, hypothetical magic, and the rest in languages Alec couldn't read, but a stele was sitting on the books. Maybe, Alec hadn't been the only one to change.   
  
"I was just about to make some tea," Magnus said. "Would you like some, or something else to drink? I do make a good dirty martini."   
  
"I'll try whatever you're having," he replied, shutting the door and following Magnus into the kitchen. There was a collection of cupcakes in a glass dome. "You bake."   
  
"Not often," Magnus said, prepping another tea cup while the water heated on the stove. "I watched over Zeke yesterday while Ragnor had a few delicate potions to work on. So, we baked."   
  
"What is on them?" Alec leaned in closer.   
  
"Icing, cookie crumble, and sour worms."   
  
Alec wrinkled his nose, thinking about how much time at the gym they would take to burn off. The cotton candy also came to mind. "That is a lot of sugar."   
  
"They're amazing," Magnus said, shooting him a playful glare over his shoulder.   
  
"I bet."   
  
"I'd suggest having one, but maybe after tea. They'd surely ruin the taste." Magnus took the kettle off the flame before it could come to a full boil, and poured into the cups. Alec watched intently as Magnus put the cups, complete with saucers, onto a fancy gold and black  tray, then a little dish of sugar cubes with tongs, a small plate with a few lemon slices, two tiny spoons, and a creamer full of milk.   
  
He picked it up and turned, "Shall we take these to the balcony?"   
  
"Sure, I'll get the doors." Alec led the way, giving another glance to the books on the table before opening the balcony doors for Magnus to go through, and shutting it behind them. The typical sounds of New York took over the soft baroque music that played inside. Cars drove by, a few honked, a sirens could be heard couple blocks away and fading.   
  
Magnus set the tray down on the little table, and gestured to the couch. Alec took his seat before Magnus would. The warlock grabbed one of the saucers, balancing the cup perfectly and held it out for Alec. "I wasn't sure if you were a sugar, or lemon slice kind of guy, so I brought both."   
  
"Never had tea with a lemon," Alec said, trying to subtly sniff the tea. It smelled nice, but he couldn't identify all the different scents. There was something kind of spicy, but more than anything it smelled like flowers.   
  
"I prefer this tea with lemon."   
  
"What kind is it?"   
  
"A bit of this, a bit of that," Magnus said vaguely. "I make it myself. Never really named it, never really follow a recipe either. Sometimes I make it better than others, so hopefully it isn't one of those batches where I got distracted and added double ginger or something."   
  
Alec grinned. "Double ginger is bad, I take it."   
  
"It might have even been triple ginger, and I swore off the stuff for two decades after that incident," Magnus replied.   
  
The little fork for the lemon slices was so dainty, as was the cup. Alec figured he'd probably break something by the end of the evening, and tried extra hard to be careful. Being a Shadowhunter, they were made for strength and power, not holding dainty little cups, and were those hand-painted scenes on the sides of the cups? Probably one of a kind. He stirred his tea with utmost care.   
  
"Demon sightings still down?" Magnus asked, adding a lemon slice to his own tea. He gave it a quick stir, then set his spoon down on the saucer behind his cup.   
  
Alec mimicked the spoon position wondering if he could screw up drinking tea. "Yes. It's been... quiet. Really quiet. It's rather strange."   
  
"Well, since it's rather quiet," Magnus said slowly, staring into his tea. "Do you think you'll be able to get out of work tomorrow?"   
  
"It's technically my shift, but I could switch with Izzy." He gave a casual shrug. "She'd be fine with it." Magnus licked his lips, put his saucer and cup down, and turned in his seat to face him. Feeling the seriousness of the moment, Alec too put down his saucer and cup. "What is it?"   
  
"I don't want you to get too excited. It might not work at all, but... could Jace also get the time off?"   
  
"Is this..." Alec's heart threatened to break free of his chest, and he actually put his hand over the spot. "Is this about the parabatai bond? Can you fix it?"   
  
"I don't know," he responded taking the hand that had been resting on his leg. "It's all very... hypothetical right now. It might not work, in fact, it probably won't but-"   
  
"We'll do it," Alec said, desperately wanting to be able to fully feel Jace through the bond. "We'll be here."   
  
Magnus took a deep breath, a frown still on his face. He patted Alec's hand then released it, but before he could pull back Alec quickly grabbed the hand again. "Why do you look so sad?"   
  
Magnus closed his eyes. "You're putting a lot of faith in me here, and the odds are so low, and you are so hopeful." He opened his eyes, and they were bright and yellow, Alec figured that Magnus didn't even notice. "I don't want to let you down, or to make this hurt you both more by giving false hope."   
  
Alec considered the words, the weight of the feelings behind them. He then leaned in and kissed Magnus gently, slow, and soft. He leaned his forehead against Magnus's. "You care enough to try, I appreciate it, I wish I could make you understand how much. And if it doesn't work, that doesn't make what you've done any less precious to me." From then on, they sat close on the couch, enjoyed the cooling air as night fully swept over the city.   
  
::  
  
"I just have concerns, okay," Jace said, as he and Alec walked the rest of the way to Magnus's loft in after lunch. "He already told you it might not work, and I'm all for taking the risk, but what about potential side-effects."   
  
"Magnus says the worst thing it'll do, is just not work."   
  
"Hypothetically," Jace said. "He said it might not work, hypothetically. Everything is hypothetical from what this spell will do, to the side effects, to it not working at all. Absolutely everything is up in the air, there is not a single guarantee anywhere."   
  
"We don't have to do this," Alec grumbled under his breath. He wanted it more than anything, wanted it to succeed, but even if it didn't, he didn't want to live out the rest of his life wondering if this could have been the answer had they just been brave enough to give it a try.   
  
Jace paused, hands planted on his hip as he looked at the ground. "Yes, we do." He then looked up at Alec. "Sorry, I'm just... worried, I guess."   
  
"Must be new for you," Alec teased.  
  
"Jerk," Jace replied with a smile, falling back into step with Alec.   
  
Magnus was waiting for them outside in a rather plain outfit, fingers lacking rings. He rubbed his hands together when he saw them. "Are you both ready?"   
  
"Yes," Alec said, glancing at his parabatai- bond or no.   
  
Jace nodded. "We're ready."   
  
::  
  
The lighting in the loft was dimmed. There were multiple vanilla candles burning in a large circle of the living room where all the furniture had been pushed to the walls to give them more room.   
  
"So, how is this going to work?" Jace asked.   
  
Magnus rubbed his hands together. "Well, up until recently, I've been going about this all wrong. I've been trying to fix the Parabatai rune, but it is inherently angelic, and my magic being demonic wouldn't bring balance."  
  
"Right," Jace said, moving careful to not accidentally blow out one of the candles on the floor while he walked around. "So... you asked us here to tell us there is nothing you can do?"   
  
"No, that's not what I'm saying," Magnus said. "I'm just saying that I had approached the problem from the wrong direction. You two have a secondary bond."  
  
"The platonic soulmate bond," Alec said, crossing his arms.   
  
Magnus nodded. "The thing is, it's much weaker than the parabatai bond, it's why your kind have the rune, to enhance and strengthen it, honing it to help you fight together." He took Alec's hand and squeezed. "But if I can amp up the platonic bond, it could potentially act like the parabatai rune did. Of course, this is all theoretical."   
  
"So, how are you going to do that?" Jace asked.   
  
"I've been toying with it for a while, trying to figure out how to make it work. What kind of magic could do that? Angelic magic was out, obviously the parabatai rune wouldn't work again, and there is no rune to boost a bond already there. Which leaves warlock magic, but warlock magic can't even cover a soulmark for long, so even if I could get it to boost a mark, it wouldn't be for long."   
  
Alec took in the scene, the candles, the markings upon the floor. "But you figured something out."   
  
"The Alliance rune," Magnus said with a little nod. "That unlocked so many new paths to explore."   
  
"That won't work though," Jace said. "Alec and I are both shadowhunters, Clary says that the Alliance rune is for a warlock and a shadowhunter."   
  
A sudden noise, and wind whipping around the room startled Alec. He spotted the open portal, and Ragnor, with Zeke stepped out of the swirling vortex. The portal closed, and somehow the candles were still lit. Magnus released Alec's hand and greeted his friend and the child who had a backpack with him.   
  
"Hi, Alec!" Zeke said. "Oh, Jace too! Hi!"   
  
"Hey," they both greeted in return.   
  
"Magnus!" Zeke dropped his bag and pulled out a robot from his backpack. "When you fold him up, he turns into a car and it is the coolest!"   
  
"That is awesome, and I'd love to see it later," Magnus said crouching. "I take it Ragnor told you that we have to do a very important spell."   
  
"Yes, he said you two had to help some friends." The boy beamed, one of his bottom teeth were missing. "Oh, and guess what? I got five whole dollars for my baby tooth!"   
  
"What are you going to buy with it?"   
  
"Candy."   
  
"Because what you need is more sugar," Ragnor said dryly. "Please, go play in the guest room. We'll bring you out when it's safe."   
  
"Okay!" The boy said. "Can we get pizza later."   
  
"Sure," Magnus said, standing back up.   
  
"Can we eat it in a fort?" Zeke requested.   
  
"Only if you let us get to work," Ragnor replied, eyeing the boy.   
  
Zeke flashed a grin and was off, toy under his arm, and dragging his backpack along.   
  
"He seems very well adjusted," Alec said.   
  
"He's doing okay," Ragnor agreed with a soft smile on his face. "Now, let's get his over with."   
  
"I was just explaining it to them," Magnus said, returning his attention to the shadowhunters in the room. "Now, Alec, you and I will wear a the Alliance rune. And Jace, you and Ragnor will pair up. The two of you will use our magic on each other-"   
  
"Woah, woah, woah," Jace put his hands up. "You want me to wield magic? What if I accidentally turn Alec into a toad."   
  
"Really?" Ragnor raised a brow, as he looked down his nose at Jace.   
  
"This sounds really dangerous!"   
  
"Magic is instinctive," Alec said, looking from Magnus to Jace. "I've done this before, I closed hellmouths, and Jace, it's just-"  
  
"I could seriously hurt you!" Jace shook his head, and turned on his heel. "I'm out."   
  
Alec saw Magnus's shoulders droop. Alec sighed, grabbed a knife from his boot, and threw it at Jace's shoulder where Alec knew his awareness rune was located. Jace shifted his weight to the side, while reaching across his body to grab the hilt of the knife. He then slowly, turned toward Alec with a glare.   
  
"It's just like that, Jace," Alec said. "Instinctive."  
  
"You threw a knife at me!"  
  
Alec scoffed. "I knew you would catch it."   
  
"Damn it, Alec." Jace walked back, twirled the knife around to hand it back to Alec by the hilt, and Alec stuffed it back into his boot.   
  
"So, are we doing this?" Ragnor asked.   
  
Alec glanced at Jace, and they both nodded.   
  
After both of the Shadowhunters were marked by the two warlocks, they stood in the center of the circle of candles, which now that they could, Magnus and Ragnor marked with Angelic runes. The circle flared white, and the candles didn't matter anymore, the fire took on a life of it's own, swirling around, completing the circle with no gaps.   
  
"Okay," Magnus said. "Here goes everything."   
  
Alec called forth Magnus's magic. Blue flames were warm, and comforting around his fingers. Jace had a bit more trouble, but got there after a moment, a soft green fog pushing out from his palms.   
It felt like their parabatai ceremony all over again, eyes locking, fixated in a moment that transended time. They were everything and nothing. They moved as one, clasping hands over forearms as they had years ago. The other hand going to the other's ribs, laying flat over the platonic rune.   
  
"Entreat me not to leave thee,  
Or return from following after thee—"  
  
They spoke as one, and Alec could feel the power under his skin flowing into Jace, and could feel that same power and intent off Jace pushing into his side of their platonic bond.   
  
"For whither thou goest, I will go,  
And where thou lodgest, I will lodge.  
Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.  
Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried.  
The Angel do so to me, and more also,  
If aught but death part thee and me."  
  
The flames slowly flickered out, the candles nothing but a puddle of white wax, and leaving behind the scent of vanilla. Alec couldn't move, hands still frozen in place, and he only realized then just how hard he was holding onto Jace's arm... and how hard Jace was holding onto him. He shut his eyes, focussed inward. Felt for the familiar warmth, for the heartbeat, for the strength and raw energy that was Jace.   
  
And found nothing.   
  
It hadn't worked.   
  
Alec swallowed hard. He had known that this would be a possibility. In fact, this had been the most likely outcome. Once a parabatai bond was broken, it could not be reestablished. Still, it felt like he'd slashed through his own mark all over again.   
  
He forced himself to un-clench his fingers around Jace's forearm, but when he went to draw back, Jace tugged him forward, and he found himself wrapped up in Jace's arms. "It worked."   
  
"What?" Alec's heart fluttered, and he felt lightheaded. What did that mean? How could it have worked for Jace and not for him.   
  
"I can feel you," Jace said, sounding elated, poking at Alec's side, right where the platonic bond was.   
  
Of course. Alec felt like an idiot. He'd been rooting for his parabatai bond, searching the empty void. Instead, he closed his eyes and turned his attention to the intricate soulmark on his ribs, over his ribs, his very breath, and there- there it was, like it never left, the burst of raw energy, the vibrations of happiness, the elation slamming into him through the bond.   
  
Alec tightened his arms around Jace, fingers clenched in his sweater. He laughed, surprised, and overjoyed. "I feel it!" He laughed again, held tighter. "It worked, holy shit, it actually worked."   
  
It took them a while, the joy jumping back and forth through the bond, but they finally backed away from each other. Alec then crossed the room in five strides, grabbed Magnus's face, and kissed him square on the mouth. "You did it. You're brilliant, and wonderful, and amazing, and it worked, it actually worked."   
  
Magnus laughed too. "I'm happy for you, Alexander."   
  
Alec succumbed to the instinct to hug Magnus, holding him tightly to his own body, resting his head on Magnus's shoulder. "Thank you, Magnus. I can never explain how much this means to me. Thank you doesn't even suffice."   
  
"Well, a date to the aquarium will," Magnus said with a light and teasing tone.  
  
"Alec couldn't reign in his smile. "Tomorrow?"   
  
"It's a date," Magnus whispered.   
  
"Shadowhunters," Ragnor said with a grin. "Pizza is on you."   
  
Jace laughed. "Alright, I'll order. And I'm getting hot peppers."   
  
Alec released Magnus from the hug, but kept an arm slung over his boyfriend's shoulders. "You're a menace, Jace."   
  
And in response, Alec felt the warmth of affection slide through the bond. "Relax, I'll get what you want on another... Parabatai." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end is coming, it's basically all fluffy, warm, happy feelings from here on out. Which, after all the hell I've put you all through, I think you all deserve <3


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I realized that I'd kind of come to the end, and then I was like OH SHIT, and I wasn't in a great place and I didn't want it to end angsty, and I write angsty when that's where my head is at so this kind of got put on pause, but things are a bit better and I'm so happy to finally have finished this off after nearly a YEAR since posting the first chapter. Thank you to everyone who has been reading this, and a BIG thanks to everyone who has commented and really just loved this and motivated me to write even more. You're the best. 
> 
> If you also read Bracelets and Bra Straps, please read this one first, while there are moments of overlapping timeline it's less spoilery if you read this one first then the last chapter of B&BS 
> 
> <3

Alec found himself grabbed by the arm by Aline, and pulled into the library. “We have some major catching up to do!” There was no one else inside. Most of the extra shadowhunters had returned to their home Institutes, or Alicante itself, Aline being one of the few exceptions to the rule. “You’re dating the High Warlock of Brooklyn. The Magnus Bane-”  
  
“And?”  
  
“And!” Aline shouted, throwing her hands into the air. “You’re… you’re dating a man-”  
  
He frowned. “You didn’t seem to have a problem with it the other day.”  
  
“I didn’t! I don’t!” Aline sighed, and appeared to study her chipped nail polish. “Are you parents okay with it?”  
  
Alec rubbed the back of his neck. “Mom is trying. Dad is… I don’t know, really.” She nodded, but she was jittery, looking all over but never at him. “Are you okay?”  
  
“I… I went out last night, right, and I had a few to drink, and I started making out with this guy I just met,” Aline started pacing. “And… uhg, gross. He was objectively good looking. I just… I just don’t.” She looked at him, and to his horror he found tears in her eyes, spilling down over her cheeks. She wiped her fingers along her cheeks, getting rid of the tears, only for them to be replaced with more. “I just don’t like men.”  
  
“That’s okay,” Alec said, grabbing her shoulders, and leaning a little so they could look eye to eye. “I like men enough for the both of us.”  
  
At that she gave up a watery laugh. “I- I found my soulmate.” She pulled up her sleeve and let him take a look. “I don’t know what to do.”  
  
Alec led her over to the couch, and they both took a seat, facing each other. “The first things Magnus and I said to each other were terrible, hateful things. Yet, despite that, we moved forward, fell together, and as much as I hated these marks, I love him.”  
  
She sniffled a little. “Is that your way of saying the soulmate mark is right?”  
  
“There is always a choice, Aline,” Alec said softly. “And that choice belongs to you.”  
  
::  
  
Thinking about choice, Alec took the stairs up to the loft. So much had changed in such a brief span of time. He let himself into the apartment, and called out a greeting. He followed Magnus’s return call to the kitchen. The warlock was making a pot of tea, and Alec just grabbed a plate, and stacked it with a couple of the tea scones Magnus always seemed to have fresh.  
  
“Those are white chocolate and blueberry,” Magnus said, getting the tea platter ready. “I wasted my afternoon watching one of those baking shows, and it got me in a mood.”  
  
“Do you always bake the scones?” he asked, picking up the plate, as Magnus grabbed the full platter.  
  
“When I’m in the mood to, otherwise I’ll make a little trip to a bakery somewhere in the world. Honestly, I love British scones.”  
  
“So you just portal to London?”  
  
Magnus laughed. “Why not?”  
  
Alec opened the door to the balcony, and held it open for Magnus. It was becoming a bit of a habit for them. If Alec got off work at a reasonable time, he’d go to Magnus’s. They would have tea, and sometimes some baked goods, and sit out on the balcony, talking for hours.  
  
“Could you teach me to bake?” Alec asked.  
  
“That sounds like it could be fun,” Magnus poured the drinks. “What would you like to learn to make?”  
  
“I don’t even know,” Alec admitted with a half-shrug. “It was just a thought.”    
  
“We can look through recipes together, find something worth attempting.” Magnus hummed, pleased with the taste of his tea.  
  
Alec smiled a little. How lovely. They were planning dates, planning little at home activities. It was so domestic, and sweet. And it hurt. It hurt so much. He set his tea aside. He took deep breaths, trying to calm himself.  
  
“Alexander?” Magnus shifted, set his own tea down. One hand went to Alec’s shoulder, the other to his forearm, fingers over the custom arm-guard that had finally come in. “What is it? What’s wrong?”  
  
Instead of outright answering, Alec gently grabbed the hand on his forearm, pulling it away from him, and then pushing up Magnus’s sleeve exposing Alec’s own writing on his skin. “I know we’ve said our sorries, I know we’ve forgiven each other,” he glared at the glittering words. “But I hate that that is what I leave you with.”  
  
“I’m no more happy with the words I left on your skin, my darling,” Magnus replied softly, giving Alec’s shoulder a squeeze.  
  
“I-I wish we could just… start over,” Alec mutter petulantly.  
  
Magnus eyed him, then shifted away in his seat. Alec’s heart sank. Magnus cleared his throat, extended his hand, words on display. “Magnus Bane.”  
  
There was such a wonderfully playful spark in Magnus’s eyes as they flickered gold. It was silly, but Alec played along, knowing Magnus was only doing this to cheer him up. He put his hand in Magnus’s giving it a gentle shake. “Alexander Lightwood.”  
  
The glitter on Magnus’s arm moved.  
  
No.  
  
Because that isn’t possible.  
  
Alec’s grip tightened as he stared in horror. No. No, no, no, no, no. Not now that he actually had Magnus, the man’s mark couldn’t be changing, he couldn’t be destined for someone else so soon after they’d begun.  
  
‘Alexander Lightwood’  
  
Alec stared at it. “That isn’t funny, Magnus,” he could barely breathe. “Just because you can change it with mag-”  
  
“You can’t change a soulmark, not with anything,” Magnus said. “You can mask it with a glamour, hide it with makeup, but you can’t change it.” Then, all of a sudden, Magnus was pulling at the straps of the arm guard, unbuckling it and tossing the leather on the table.  
  
‘Magnus Bane’  
  
Alec’s jaw dropped. His shaking fingertips traced over the words that were sinking into his skin, no longer the golden glitter, but the typical red. “What? How?”  
  
“I don’t know, I don’t know!” Magnus looked every bit as shocked. “You always have a choice. I… I guess we both made a choice to start over?”  
  
“And that worked?”  
  
“I don’t know, Alexander!” Magnus was poking at the words on his own arm, staring at them like they might fade away if he blinked. “It’s your name.” His fingertip followed the swirl at the base of the ‘L’ in Alec’s writing. He looked over at Alec, tears in his eyes, but a smile on his lips.  
  
::  
  
They did end up going to the aquarium. A picture of them standing in front of pool of jellyfish was on the refrigerator. Magnus did teach him to make ravioli from scratch. They spent an entire day at an arcade, and had brought Zeke with them. They spent hours on the couch watching movies, hours more in the kitchen baking. Bleary early mornings were full of shared kisses, and softly spoken words. An empty drawer became Alec’s, then a dresser, then Magnus’s room became their room.    
  
Alec wore his arm-guard during battle, but exposed his soulmate mark to the world when he was off duty.  
  
Months spent together became a year. Then two.  
  
Alec fussed in front of a full length mirror. He’d watched the video on his phone about how to get a Windsor knot in his tie at least five times, and still couldn’t manage to get it done right. A double tap, and then the door behind him opened. Jace appeared in the mirror in a full suit, tie done perfectly.  
  
“By the Angel. Aren’t gay guys supposed to be good at this?”  
  
“I can tie a perfectly acceptable noose,” Alec shot back with a glare. “Shall I demonstrate?”  
  
“Unnecessary,” Jace replied with a little smirk. He swatted Alec’s hands away, and with quick graceful movements tied the burgundy tie. Alec did a quick search of the bond, and found joy and excitement. “Ready?”  
  
“A little nervous,” Alec admitted.  
  
“I know. You’ve never been one for crowds,” Jace replied. “But, at least this is a group that isn’t actively trying to kill us.”  
  
“Which is odd.”  
  
“I know, right?” Jace replied and they shared a smile. “You better get going, I have to get downstairs, and make sure the groom isn’t freaking out too bad.”  
  
Alec nodded, they separated in the hallway, and Alec knocked on the door, waiting for permission. Clary opened the door, smiled, and beckoned him inside. The redhead looked beautiful in a floor length burgundy dress with a deep v. “You clean up nice,” she said, giving him a look over.  
  
“You actually tamed your hair,” he retorted.  
  
She pursed her lips, but the side curved up with her amusement. Their relationship had grown closer in the past few years. They were Jace’s soulmates, and if nothing else, that pushed them to care for one another’s wellbeing. Still, eighty percent of their relationship was teasing each other.  
  
“If you two are done,” Isabelle stepped out of the other room in a dazzling ballroom gown. The long sleeves were a decorative gold leaf design that went down over the bodice and into the delicate tulle of the skirt. Her hair was in a twisted style on one side that left her hair flowing over one shoulder. Opal studs in her ears. “Big brother, tell me I’m pretty.”  
  
“Pretty?” Alec blinked. “By the Angel, Iz. You’re gorgeous.”  
  
She smiled, delighted. “Thanks.”  
  
He grabbed her hands with his own. His baby sister was getting married. To her soulmate. A Shadowhunter. Which, holy shit, isn’t that a long story? From vampire, to daylighter, to sacrificing immortality and memories to a demon in exchange for them all escaping Hell, getting his memories back, taking the risk of drinking from the Mortal Cup- yeah, Simon had done a lot over the past few years, and was the only person Alec (surprisingly) thought would ever be worth his baby sister.  
  
He brushed his thumbs over her knuckles, one of them pausing on the large opal engagement ring. “You ready to get married.”  
  
“I can’t wait,” she replied. She hooked her arm around his. “Thanks.”  
  
He raised a brow. “For what?”  
  
She smiled up at him, her heels still not making up for the height difference between them. “Walking me down the aisle, always being there for me, for always being whatever I needed, whenever I needed. Thank you for everything.”  
  
He blinked away a sudden influx of tears, kissed her temple, and cleared his throat. “Grab the flowers, Fray. We’ve got a wedding to get to.”  
  
::  
  
The reception party was in full swing. Their father had been invited, and responded that he would be there, but ultimately hadn’t shown- he was expecting a child with his soulmate in a few months. Their mother looked stunning a glittery midnight blue dress as she went around thanking guests. Aline was there, dancing with Helen as if no one else was in the room. He smiled at her when their eyes met, and she shot him a wink back in return, pulling her girlfriend a little closer.  
  
Jace and Clary were on the dance floor with moves that were a little awkward, but they were both laughing and having a great time. Jocelyn was in attendance, so was Luke. Alec did another look around, but still couldn’t find Magnus anywhere. Isabelle grabbed his arm and pulled him on the floor for a dance. Simon cut in near the end, and the adoration between the newlywed couple was clear. Alec returned to his previous mission.  
  
He spotted Max goofing around with his parabatai, and was happy to see his little brother having a good time, especially since he'd have to return to training when the weekend was over. Clary was now sitting near her mother, and Luke chatting away. Jace had been pulled into doing the Cha Cha Slide, but clearly didn’t know the moves (Alec avoided stepping anywhere near the dance floor where someone might pull him in.) Aline and Helen were huddled together in a dark corner of the room- he smiled and averted his eyes.  
  
The lights dimmed as a slow song came on. He saw his mother, and started to approach only to slow when he saw his mother’s back tense, eyes narrowed. “A Lovelace? What are you doing here?”  
  
The man’s posture straightened, and his lip curled. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Trueblood,” he said with heavy sarcasm.  
  
Her hands panted on her hips. “It’s still Lightwood since the Clave is still fighting me on the divorce and name change.”  
  
He opened his suit jacket and pulled out an envelope, Alec could see the Clave symbol in the wax. “Everything has been finalized.”  
  
She snatched it out of his hand, and ripped it open. Alec couldn’t help but to walk over to his mother, eying the man. They’d never formally met, but he knew that Anthony Lovelace was one of the few Lovelaces that were still Shadowhunters. Anthony worked in Alicante mostly doing clerical work after a demon severely damaged his left leg in such a way that Irazes could never completely heal, and left him walking with a cane.  
  
He looked at her, less hostile, more curious. “Is everything in order?”  
  
She looked up from the papers, then to Alec, then back to Anthony. “Yes. Thank you.”  
  
“Just because I am a Lovelace does not mean I’m incapable of doing my job,” he retorted with a bland look that said that he received such treatment before.  
  
She gripped the papers a little tighter. “My apologies.”  
  
He nodded. “A beautiful wedding, give my regards to the bride.” With that he hobbled through the crowd.  
  
“It’s official,” Maryse said softly.  
  
“Did he call you Miss Trueblood?” Alec said, looking over his shoulder still following the man’s blonde hair.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“What he said just had a sense of dejavu,” he said, tucking his hands into the pockets of his trousers.  
  
She gasped, the papers crumpling in her grip. “My mark. He… he said the…” she stared at him, wide eyed and shocked. “He…”  
  
“The marks are never wrong,” Alec said, jaw slack. “Dad was never your soulmate?”  
  
She thrust the papers into Alec’s hands, and started to weave through the crowd. He stared after her, holding the papers to his chest.  
  
“What was that all about, Darling?”  
  
He nearly jumped at the sound of Magnus’s voice so close. “Where were you? I was looking for you,” Alec said with divided attention.  
  
“Well I went outside for some air, it was too hot after all that dancing, and then I went to the bar- open bar, a terrible thing to waste- Alec, are you okay?”  
  
He folded the papers and put them back into the envelope with shaking hands. “I think Mom just met her soulmate.”  
  
“Oh. OH!” Magnus’s eyes flickered gold for a split second. “What? Tell me everything!”  
  
::  
  
  
In the morning, Magnus’s hair was in disarray, eyeliner smudged and halfway to his ear. Alec thought he’d never looked so perfect. “Good morning,” he whispered, running his fingers along Magnus’s jaw.    
  
Magnus groaned, and rubbed his face into Alec’s chest instead of answering.  
  
“Do you want me to make pancakes?”  
  
The groan that earned was sinful, and usually reserved for really good sex. “Keep talking dirty to me,” Magnus said with a smirk.  
  
Alec chuckled. “Real maple syrup.”  
  
“Marry me,” Magnus said with a playful smile.  
  
Alec paused, just a second, utterly serious; “Just give me the time and place.”  
  
Magnus shifted, his chin digging into Alec’s chest a little. “Really? Would you?” he whispered, eyes golden and vulnerable.  
  
“In a heartbeat.”  
  
“The Clave wouldn’t accept it.”  
  
“Fuck the Clave,” Alec growled. He dragged Magnus up his body until he could kiss him soundly on the mouth. Then the jaw. Then his neck. He drew away so he could once more look Magnus in the eyes. “You’re my heart, and my soul. I want you now… I want you forever.”  
  
Magnus’s phone started to ring, breaking the moment between them. “Oh for fuck-” he cut off as he looked at the phone’s display screen. He scrambled for it, and answered, still half on Alec, half sprawled over the bed. “Cat? Everything okay? You never call before two in the afternoon.”  
  
Alec drew protection runes with his fingers on Magnus’s thigh while he waited.  
  
“I understand.” Magnus said. “No, not yet.” His eye shot to Alec. “I’ll call you back.” He hung up, left his phone on the bed, and straddled Alec’s waist. “That was Catarina.”  
  
“I surmised that from you calling her Cat.” His thumb rubbed circles on Magnus’s hips. “What is it? Is she okay?”  
  
“She’s been teaching at the Shadowhunter Academy.”  
  
“I know, she’s terribly irritable about it whenever I go give lessons.”  
  
“Yes, well.” Magnus took a deep breath, ran his hands through his hair, tugging a little before letting his hands fall onto Alec’s chest. “Someone abandoned a child there. On the steps. A warlock child.”  
  
“A kid,” he whispered. “Someone just abandoned a kid.”  
  
Magnus nodded. “It’s not uncommon for… for children like-” he pointed to his eyes, his Warlock Mark.  
  
“Well,” his finger smoothed along Magnus’s abs, skimming over where his belly button would be if he had one. “We’ve been talking about kids.”  
  
“Hypothetically.”  
  
“You weren’t serious?”  
  
“Yes, of course I was! Just- we never talked about what kind of child.”  
  
“A child child?” Alec cocked his head, confused. “What other kind of child is there?”  
  
“Don’t be purposely dense. A Shadowhunter child, I assumed-”  
  
“You assumed I wouldn’t want a Warlock child?” Alec sat up a bit, insulted. “I love Zeke. I’m his favourite uncle.”  
  
“Woah, hey now, I’m his favourite uncle!”  
  
“That’s not what he told me!”  
  
“Well it’s what he told me!”  
  
“Do you want a child with me?” Alec asked.  
  
“Yes.” Magnus sighed. “I want everything with you.”  
  
“So… we should probably get dressed.”  
  
Magnus threaded his fingers with Alec’s pushing him down on the bed for a moment, lips brushing in soft, loving kisses. “Are you sure?”  
  
“Yes. If we show up naked, it won’t look very good for us.”  
  
Magnus barked out a surprised laugh. “Alright, Shadowhunter.” His fingers trailed over his own name on Alec’s skin. “It looks like we have a new adventure awaiting us.”


End file.
